Memories and the Countdown
by luvliX3
Summary: Nine years have passed since the Ring Conflict and Tsuna is the Boss of the Vongola; his Guardians have followed him as his protectors. This is the story of the Vongola in the 10 months before the arrival of 13 year old Tsuna and Co..
1. Chapter One: The Letter

_Author Notes:_

_This was actually inspired because of this one video I found on youtube. Even now, being fully caught up with the manga, I still feel moved when I watch that video._

_Video Link:_

.com/watch?v=6E_HCr1msi0&feature=PlayList&p=939DD79711B86C22&index=16

_Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn or the above placed video. KHR and all related characters are the property of Akira Amano-sensei._

_**May contain spoilers**_

* * *

**_The Letter_**

Tsuna heaved a sigh as he looked out the window of his office. The sky was a beautiful turquoise and a few clouds ran through it in wisps of white. He glanced down at the rose garden; the flowers were only beginning to bud. In a few days, they would be roses whose colors matched the rainbow.

It had been almost ten years since he had first been told that he'd inherit a rather large and suspicious "company" in Italy by a talking baby. Before the baby's arrival, he was no good and couldn't manage to do anything without messing up. But after much training and quite a number of obstacles, Tsuna lost his childhood nickname of "No Good Tsuna" and became a formidable boss and heir. And, it was all thanks to that baby hitman, Reborn.

_Knock. Knock._

Tsuna opened his eyes. He hadn't realized when he'd fallen asleep. After recomposing himself, he stood up from his leather swivel chair and as he left the seat, it squeaked.

"The door's open, come in please."

The oak creaked silently at the hinges as the door opened and revealed a silver-haired Italian. "Tenth, I brought in my mission report as well as the files and new information concerning the strange take-downs of several Families around the world," he announced while he walked in with a stack of papers in his arms. The silver-haired man stopped a few feet away from Tsuna's desk. "Tenth? Is something wrong?"

Tsuna smiled, "Nothing's wrong, Gokudera."

It looked like smiling was hurting him, but Gokudera didn't press further. After being by Tsuna's side for so long, he learned that if Tsuna wanted to share his problem with the Family, he would.

"Sorry I'm late Tsuna," a black-haired man walked into the room. "The mission took a little longer than I expected, so…" He stopped after realizing that Gokudera was in the room. "Is something wrong, Tsuna?"

Tsuna smiled again, shook his head, and turned to look out the window. "Please close the door, Yamamoto."

Without a word, Yamamoto did as he was told before he stood next to Gokudera.

Tsuna looked up at the sky again from behind the bullet-proof glass. "Do you two have your Vongola rings with you?"

Yamamoto and Gokudera exchanged looks of confusion and worry.

"We do."

"The rings are what mark us as the Tenth's Guardians. There's no way we wouldn't have this symbol on our person."

Tsuna closed his eyes and let out a small sigh. "That's good," he murmured.

"Tsuna, is there something wrong?" Yamamoto asked again. Gokudera shot Yamamoto a warning glare, but the swordsman ignored it. He knew that he shouldn't delve too much into Tsuna's business, but his instincts told him that he needed to ask. "You don't seem like your normal self. Is it something concerning us or the rest of the Family?"

"No, it's about the rings." Tsuna answered.

"What about the rings?" Yamamoto asked, his worry grew.

He turned so that he could see his childhood friends from the corner of his eyes, "Destroy them."

"What? Tsuna, I don't understand…"

"Destroy the Vongola rings," Tsuna repeated.

Yamamoto's worry deepened. Without the Vongola ring, he'd only have one other ring to open up his box weapon. "But, Tsuna…"

"An order's an order, Yamamoto," Gokudera said as he pulled his Vongola ring off his finger. The removed ring left a thick, pale mark on the Italian's finger. He placed the ring on Tsuna's desk. "I want to know why you want us to destroy them, but I won't force you to explain, Tenth."

"Thank you, Gokudera."

The Storm Guardian looked over to the Rain Guardian, "You, too, Yamamoto."

Yamamoto glanced down at the floor before he walked over to the desk and set his ring on the desk. "Tsuna…"

"If you see Chrome, Hibari, or Ryohei, tell them to come see me," Tsuna didn't face his two friends. "You're dismissed."

"Later then, Tsuna…" Yamamoto's foot steps echoed as he reached the door. But as he was about to turn the handles of the oak door, he stopped. "I…I…I"

_Bleep! Bleep! Bleep!_ Yamamoto grabbed his cellphone from his pocket. "Yamamoto, who—"

He stood quietly listening to the message. "What?" his voice rose sharply, causing Gokudera to look at the Rain Guardian in shock. Tsuna also turned for a short while, but returned his gaze towards the garden. "I-I'm coming right now…No, don't do anything until I get there…"

There was a small click and Yamamoto let his hand drop to his side before closing it. "I-I'll be leaving now…" he announced, his voice shaking as the oak's hinges creaked. Then he ran out, slamming the door behind him.

Tsuna and his Storm Guardian stood quietly, not moving from their positions. After thirty seconds that had felt like an eternity had passed, Gokudera broke the silence. "Tenth, about the rings—"

"You said you had information on the Families that were recently annihilated, right?" he interrupted, not turning around.

Gokudera's eyebrows knit together, but he held down his question. What Tsuna wanted came first. He set down his brief case next to the rings and took out eight manila folders as well as a thin envelope. "These folders describe the business these Families were conducting in recent years. Other than being in the mafia and being relatively unknown families, there are no outstanding transactions or activities." He explained as he closed his brief case. "The envelope was found in the mail and addressed specifically to you. I went to check on Gianini's work and he's almost completed the new secret base."

"Thank you, Gokudera."

"Tenth, you're acting strange lately. Not just the Vongola rings, but lately as I go over your work there are more mistakes than usual. You're up late at night and don't come back home until early morning. I'm worried about you, Tenth."

Tsuna sighed, "Hayato…"

"Y-Yes?" Gokudera answered after recovering from the shock of hearing his first name. Tsuna rarely did that; it was only on three occasions that Tsuna did such a thing: [1] when he was angry, [2] had something serious to say, and [3] when he was drunk.

"My recent behavior is nothing you need to worry about. It's just that my intuition has been telling me to do this. I'm not clear on what exactly 'this' is, but you know just as well as I do that when my intuition is telling me to do something, it should be done. You're the first friend I made and my right-hand man. If anything bad was to happen or anything that I couldn't handle was to come up, you'd be the first to know."

"I believe in your judgment, so I won't doubt your words. Just remember, I'll always be there by your side to protect you and the Family." Then the Storm Guardian picked up his briefcase and headed for the door. "I'll try to get in contact with Ryohei and Chrome. It's just an assumption, but you have Lambo's ring already, right? I'll see you later."

After he heard the door close, Tsuna sat down at his desk, reclining back in his seat with his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he looked at was the two Vongola rings his childhood friends left on his desk. He reached out for them, holding them in his palm in front of him. The two rings that had gone through generations of battles and owners looked shiny and new like they were just bought yesterday.

He smiled as he closed the rings in his hand. He remembered the night Gokudera, Yamamoto, and he walked back home after the ring conflict had finally ended. They were exhausted and tired from their fight with the Varia, which was like fighting death itself, but they were happy and smiling.

Before Tsuna realized it, tears had formed in his eyes and blurred his vision before streaming down his cheek. He quickly wiped them away with his sleeve and picked up the files that Gokudera had brought in. Almost immediately, he recognized five of the eight Family files piled on his desk.

Taking up the other three, Tsuna skimmed the information that was paper-clipped into the folder. "Maybe…"

The mafia boss set the files back down on his desk as well as the Guardians' rings and hurried out of his office towards the informational hall that housed the Vongola archives and library.

* * *

"Sawada…I heard you wanted to…" Hibari stopped at the open doorway, only to find the room devoid of life. He scanned the room over carefully before stepping into office. Each step he took on the brown carpet echoed silence.

The former disciplinary member stopped at his boss's desk. He didn't want to admit it, that Tsuna, a mere herbivore during his middle school days, had become his boss and even beat him once in a battle, but he accepted it. "Hn? What's this?" he picked up the files on the desk, thumbing through one and then the rest before he came upon the envelope, which was buried under all the files that were now in a neat stack on the Vongola boss's desk.

Despite seeing the envelope still sealed together with seal-less red wax, the Cloud Guardian tore it open from the fold and took out the letter. As he processed every word on the sheet, his eyes widened. It was when Hibari was finished reading the letter that Tsuna came back.

"Sawada, what's the meaning of this?" he growled as Tsuna walked in. Tsuna looked at the letter then at Hibari then back to the letter. The mafia boss closed the doors and locked them.

"Lately, there have been recent attacks on several Families throughout the world, mainly in Italy," Tsuna started.

"I was aware…but what does it have to do with _this_?" He held up the paper and envelope up in the air, firmly clutched in his hand. "When did you start contacting this man and when did you start talking about—"

"After our last contact with the Millefiore Family, I realized that Byakuran held a Mare Ring. The Mare Rings, however, belong to the Giglio Nero, whose boss holds the Sky Pacifier. That's when my intuition first started to warn me that something bad was going to happen or that there was something wrong; it was also then that I received my first letter from Irie Shoichi."

"I suppose then," Hibari interrupted, "that the first letter contained something concerning a rendezvous?"

Tsuna looked up at Hibari in surprise.

"Your right-hand man isn't the only one who notices what goes on in this mansion."

Tsuna walked towards the window, looking out at the rose garden again. "You're correct: the letter did tell me to meet with Irie. This was to be outside of both our Family's knowledge and I was to burn the letter after reading it. At first, I was a bit wary and suspicious of the letter and this 'Irie' that I hadn't recalled ever meeting. But when I met him in person, I knew that he was a good person, someone I could trust."

"Is he more trustworthy than your childhood friends? Than us?" Hibari snapped.

"It's not like that, Kyouya," Tsuna's voice rose. "If I were to tell everyone about Irie and the plan that we were coming up with, they would all try to join in. Irie wants it to be just the two of us."

"So you're only telling me because I found out? Do you not trust—"

Tsuna turned around, facing his Cloud Guardian. His eyebrows were knit together in slight annoyance. "Kyouya, I already told you, it's _not_ like that. I trust Gokudera, Yamamoto, Chrome, Ryohei, Lambo, I-pin, Reborn, you—_everyone_—with my life. I _know_ that you all would save me without thinking. That's why I couldn't let you guys in on the plan."

"Then why are you telling me this now?"

"Because I need your help. You're smart, Kyouya, and your information network is the best in the Vongola's. You also have a very strong sense of justice, although sometimes a bit corrupt, you _know_ that there are some things that should not be left undone or should not happen. I'm guessing you've already gone through all those files, correct?"

"Yes," Hibari answered, calmer now.

Tsuna turned back to his window, "And you've noticed the attribute that all of them share, yes?"

The two stood still, letting dead silence chatter away. "I have," he answered solemnly.

"Then you know what I need to do and what I need you to do, right?"

"I do, but I don't like the idea of you going on your own. I'm going with you to your next meeting."

Tsuna couldn't help but feel pain build up deep inside him from hearing Hibari's concern, but he smiled, "I thought you'd say that."

* * *

_End Chapter One_

_Originally, I was only going to have this be a one-shot, but…oh well…_

_I'm probably not able to create the kind of mood I want for this story because I'm such an amateur. Review please! And if you're going to criticize it, give some advice to go with it!_


	2. Chapter Two: The Rain's Tears

_Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyou Hitman Reborn, Akira Amano does._

_**May contain spoilers**_

* * *

_**The Rain's Tears**_

The skies of Italy were covered by dark clouds that release a shower of tears onto the land. A pale hand pressed against the glass, which had turned into ice from the pelts of droplets that attacked it. Cold rushed through the warm hand and cooled the body attached to it. The only sound that could be heard was the unmistakable nostalgic pitter-patter of droplets.

A loud creak broke the rhythmic music and amber eyes looked into the partially reflective glass window to see who the visitor was. A man with cow-licked silver hair stood at the door. His gruff voice further disturbed the rain's melody. "Yo, Sawada—I mean…" he stopped, remembering he's at work. "Excuse me, Boss. I heard from Gokudera that you wanted to see me."

The hand slowly slid away from the glass. "Yes," the mafia boss turned around, "I'm sorry that I cut your visit short. How's everyone doing in Japan?"

"They're all doing great, but they all miss you a lot, especially my sister. The first thing she said to me when I saw her was 'hello', the second thing she said was 'is Tsu-kun with you?'" The man laughed, "Kyoko's all grown up now."

"Kyoko…" a soft smile formed as Tsuna remembered her. His face finally looked at peace after all the stress he had accumulated as the boss to the Vongola Family. Middle school days of his once strange and joyful life came back to his mind and he saw the smiling face of an orange-haired angel.

The silver-haired man's face also softened after seeing his Boss's calm face. But it quickly changed when he finally remembered what he came back to Italy for, "Sawa—Boss! Was there something you needed me for?"

"You don't need to call me 'Boss', it's not like Reborn's going to pop in and shoot you if you call me 'Sawada'." The infant tutor that had trained Tsuna hadn't been seen since his coronation ceremony as Vongola X, which was years ago. Once every so often, Tsuna would receive a letter or postcard from Reborn or Bianchi from places all over the world. But it was only on rare occasions and secretly. "Ryohei, I need your Vongola ring."

"Sure, Sawada," he pulled the shining metal off his finger. "But what for?" Ryohei walked over to Tsuna and put the ring in his Boss's outstretched hand.

"My intuition told me that I need to destroy them," he answered as he put the ring in his jacket pocket.

"D-Destroy? Aren't these rings priceless heirlooms of the Vongola Family?" the boxer boomed. Thunder echoed him in the distance.

"They are."

Ryohei still couldn't get over his bewilderment, "Then why?"

"Ryohei, I'll be leaving the country for a few days next week. Normally, I would give Gokudera this job, but he's too busy as it is and I don't want to overload him otherwise he'll get sick like last time."

"What do you need me to do?"

"…I need you to watch over Lambo. I heard that he was getting bullied at school again."

"You got it, Sawa—Boss! Not only will I watch the kid, I'll turn him into an extreme boxing champ!" Ryohei exclaimed.

Tsuna smiled, "That's good. I anticipate his first tournament. I'll see you later, alright?"

Ryohei nodded, "I'll start on his training right now." He made a half-sprint for the door. "Later then, Sawada—Boss!" The oak slammed shut and once again the rain resumed its tune. Tsuna stayed where he stood until another roll of thunder called him to his seat.

The leather let out a small squeak and Tsuna let himself lean back in the chair. The lights flickered out and lightning brightened the room through the window behind him. He closed his eyes, letting the darkness settle in and soothe him.

* * *

"_Tsuna-nii!" a small boy with hazel hair wearing a long striped scarf rushes up to Tsuna, hugging his leg out of breath._

"_Fuuta!" he exclaims, unable to hide his shock at seeing the boy here. "Is something wrong?"_

_The boy shakes his head enthusiastically then smiles brightly up at Tsuna, who can't help but smile back. "Then what is it?"_

"_I-pin, Lambo, and I need one more person to play with us. Can you play with us, Tsuna-nii?"_

"_Sure thing, Fuuta," Tsuna gently pulls the child off his leg and takes his hand. "So, what game are you guys playing?"_

"_Cops and Robbers," Fuuta laughed, "I-pin, Lambo, and I are the cops and Tsuna-nii is going to be the robber!"_

"_M-Me? The robber?"_

"_Yup! Good luck, Tsuna-nii!"_

* * *

_Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!_

Tsuna opened his eyes to darkness. He looked around his office groggily before laying his eyes on the grandfather clock on his left. Lightning flashed again, revealing the clock's face. He got out of his chair and walked to the antique to get a better look at the time. As he stood directly in front of the grandfather clock, there was another flash of lightning, which revealed the silhouette of a person taller than Tsuna.

"Don't turn around, Tsunayoshi-kun…" a voice as eerie as darkness whispered in the boss's ear.

"Mukuro? No, you're not really here. Where are you right now?" Tsuna asked, "And how are you talking to me?"

"Kufufu," he chuckled, "I'm actually in the midst of a battle with Glo Xinia."

"Glo…Xinia?" Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to recall a face to match the name, but can't.

"He's a member of the Millefiore Family's White Spell," Mukuro explained, reading his boss's mind, "and it appears that he holds a Mare Ring…like Byakuran."

Thunder.

Tsuna turned around, searching for his Mist Guardian, but he was no where in sight.

Cold dark pitch veiled Tsuna's vision as well as the smell of wet leather mixed with blood. "Now, now, Tsunayoshi-kun, didn't I tell you not to turn around?" his voice was low, barely a whisper and almost droned out by the sound of rain.

"You said you're in a battle right now, correct? Do you need back-up?"

"Always worrying about everyone no matter who or where they are," Mukuro murmured. His breath was ragged. "That's what's…going to get…you _killed_ one day…Tsuna…yoshi-kun…"

The rain filled in for the silence that was absent from this conversation.

"Mukuro, if it's too much of a burden for you to be here, you don't need to be. Just talking with Chrome will be enough for me. Don't waste your energy for something like this that your subordinate could handle."

"Kufufu…I'm sorry, Tsunayoshi-kun…you'll have to pardon me this one time…" he stopped to catch his breath. Long, heavy, wet strings fell onto Tsuna's shoulder and cold leather fingers took Tsuna's warm hand and smoothed out the fist. "Tsunayoshi-kun…here is my Vongola ring…" A small circular ice-cold band was set on the mafia boss's hand.

"How did you know that this is what I would be asking for?"

A light scoff reached Tsuna's ear. "Silly Tsunayoshi-kun…do you believe Kyouya's intelligence network is better than mine?" The damp strings slowly slid off Tsuna's shoulder and the black that blocked his view slowly moved away. "I am the Mist, the one that 'creates something from nothing and nothing from something'…don't forget that…Tsunayoshi-kun…"

Tsuna turned around again and this time, he saw Chrome standing where Mukuro should have been. "Chrome…" he breathes.

"Mukuro-sama…is…busy right now," she said meekly. "He said to tell you that if you ask for him. And he said not to worry so much, or you'd die before he got his second chance at revenge."

Rain drops filled in the emptiness, pouring drops into the atmosphere, making it heavy.

"I have some errands to run, so, please excuse me, Boss," she gave a small bow before walking out through the oak, which groaned as she left the room.

Tsuna looked down at the ring in his hand. It was partially-covered with red stickiness and was cold and wet. He closed his fingers around the ring in his palm and cupped the fist with his other hand. Tsuna pressed the area between his eyebrows with the thumbs of his hands. "Please, Mukuro…don't die…otherwise, Chrome and Ken and Chikusa…they'll…"

Thunder interrupted him and he solemnly tucked the Mist Vongola ring in his jacket pocket. Tsuna walked back to his desk, feeling a bit weak in the knees as he remembered what Mukuro had said. _'He holds a Mare Ring…like Byakuran'…_

He swallowed only half the discomfort lodged in his throat before he slammed his palms on the desk. "Darn it…" Tsuna set himself down in his seat. His head drooped over the table, supported by his arms with palms planted over his eyes to stop the tears that were starting to form with the concern for his subordinate. The process worked and he finally allowed himself to recline in his seat after he was sure his tears were vaulted again.

_Knock. Knock._

"Tenth, I'm coming in," Gokudera announced as he opened the oak by brass knobs. "Is something wrong?" he asked immediately. His worry escaped through his voice, which only grew louder, "Did something happen? Do you feel unwell?"

Tsuna shot Gokudera a pained glance before regaining his recent and more stoic face; he shook his head. "It's nothing, Gokudera. Did something come up or do I have more work?"

"Actually, there's a bit of morbid news," Gokudera smiled weakly at his boss. He only paused for a second so that the thunder could yell. "Yamamoto's father is…dead…"

Tsuna's eyes widened, "Yamamoto's father?" He stood up, "How? How did it happen?"

"He…he was murdered by some hitmen. I have a team investigating right now, but Yamamoto's a little…well, you know."

Tsuna stomach knotted and flashes of Yamamoto's past suicide attempt slid by in his mind. "Where is Yamamoto right now?"

"His room," Gokudera answered. "He locked the door and won't let anyone in. I heard that he just came back from Japan to get a few things before he leaves, but—"

"Please excuse me, Gokudera," Tsuna interrupted, walking hurriedly out of his office. The Storm Guardian stood where he was, looking after his friend's disappearing figure with anxiety.

* * *

As Tsuna reached the end of the hallway, he made an abrupt right turn followed by another. He halts in step right before he sees a maid trying at the handle with one hand while the other was balancing a tray of food.

"Please, Mr. Yamamoto, I'm only here to bring you food. Please let me—" she stopped, realizing that Tsuna is now behind her. After taking the silver platter in two hands, she made a small bowing gesture. "Boss."

Tsuna took the tray from the maid quickly and smoothly.

"B-But, Boss!"

"You're dismissed for today, please feel free to relax," Tsuna said as he balanced the tray of food in one hand and knocked on the door with the other. "Yamamoto, it's me," he yelled, "Let me in."

The maid and Tsuna stood in silence, Tsuna waited patiently while the maid trembled in the anticipation. After a few more seconds of waiting, Tsuna knocked on the door again. "Yamamoto…"

They stood frozen in the quiet hallway until Tsuna heard a thump in the room. The mafia boss turned his head so he could see the maid and gave her a smile, "Please take the rest of the day off."

"Y-Yes, sir," she bowed before scurrying down the hallway.

"I'm alone now, Yamamoto. Open the door."

A crack finally appeared between the door and the frame, revealing darkness. Tsuna took a deep, calming breath before proceeding into the dark room. After taking only a few steps, the door closed shut behind him. In the pitch black, Tsuna can barely make out Yamamoto's hunched figure over the side of the bed.

Tsuna took a step forward and Yamamoto spoke. "Don't…" his voice was hoarse and dry.

The young boss remained where his friend had stopped him.

"I know why you came here…It's to make sure I didn't kill myself, right? Like that time on the roof all those years ago. Looking back at that time, I really should've died. It's not like I'm ungrateful that you stopped me, but…right now…it's just too…painful…"

"Yama—"

"The kid, no Reborn…he's not a kid anymore is he?" he gave a small laugh, "Reborn told me that one day, this kind of thing was bound to happen. He said that anyone I knew—my friends, my family—they were all likely to get hurt one day because I joined the mafia, because I became a hitman." There was a short silence followed by a partly insane laugh, "I can't believe I thought that the mafia thing was a game when I was younger…Man, I wish it was like that again…those days of blissful ignorance."

Tsuna braved a step forward and Yamamoto drew his sword before even one second had passed. In the darkness, the metal blade was the only thing that shined. He stopped again, watching his friend's movements.

"This sword and his shop…they're probably the only objects Dad loved. I was wondering if I should sell the shop to get money for his funeral and if I should put the sword next to his picture. Or…if I should just take my own life with this blade."

"Ya—"

"You don't understand how painful it is," Yamamoto whispered, "losing both your parents…My dreams were meant to be shattered from the start; my life was meant to be a wreck."

Tsuna started walking towards Yamamoto despite the intimidating sword's glare that cut the darkness. Reflexively, Yamamoto pointed his sword towards Tsuna. If Tsuna had made another step, his neck would've been stabbed.

"Don't get too close, Tsuna," Yamamoto choked. Tsuna grabbed the blade with his bare hands, causing blood to stream down his palm, and stepped forward, pressing the blade at the junction between his neck and head. Yamamoto turned at the jerking movement. Unlike Tsuna, he could see in the dark as if it were a lighted room faintly painted over with gray. "T-Tsuna—"

"If you really mean to kill yourself, kill me before you do the act because I don't want to see my friend die while I stand around uselessly and stupidly."

Yamamoto averted Tsuna's strong amber eyes that burned with his resolve and started to pull his sword away. "I…"

Tsuna tightened his grip on the sharp blade and pressed it again at the junction, this time harder than the first. "Well? What are you going to do? Are you going to kill yourself?"

"Ye…"

"I can't hear you," Tsuna's voice boomed in the dark.

"Y—No!" Yamamoto yelled as he lowered his sword. The room was quiet with the exception of a light sniffle. "I…how could you even think that I'd be okay with being the cause of your death?"

Tsuna set the silver tray at the edge of the bed and wrapped his arms around Yamamoto, holding his Rain Guardian's head against his shoulder. The swordsman's sniffling stopped as shock settled in. He opened his mouth to say something, but Tsuna beat him to it.

"That's exactly what your father would say, isn't it?" he asked softly. As the words entered Yamamoto's ears, Tsuna loosened his grip a bit. "You're right, I don't know how it feels to lose your parents or how great that blissful ignorance that you had really was, but here's one thing I do know: you're someone who is not only important to me, but to our friends as well."

Yamamoto's shoulders relaxed and the shock on his face evaporated. He pushed Tsuna away and wiped his tears with the sleeve of his suit. "You're right, Tsuna. I'm being too depressing. Dad would be scolding me right now if he were here. Thanks, Tsuna…I've probably wasted a load of time here just moping, I should start getting packed." He left the bed and walked to his closet, taking out a suitcase, which he then set on the bed next to the tray of food. "Tsuna, if it's not too much trouble, can I borrow some money for Dad's funeral?"

"Of course, what are friends for?" Tsuna smiled. It was half-forced and he hoped that Yamamoto couldn't see in the dark.

"It's getting late…You should probably get back to your office and get some work done. Who knows when Reborn's going to come in, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." Tsuna walked towards the door and grabbed the handle. He twisted the knob, but stopped after that. "One more thing, Yamamoto…"

"What is it, Tsuna?"

"Promise me, that no matter what happens, you won't kill yourself over it and instead, you'll go on strong."

"Of course! I can't just keep making you guys worry about me every time I get down in the dumps, can I?"

A small, painful smile beset Tsuna's face. "That's good." He opened the door and the light from the hallway invaded the dark room. "See you tomorrow."

* * *

"I don't like how you're handling things, Sawada," Hibari spoke as Tsuna came out of Yamamoto's room. "It's not like you."

"Even I can be cool when I want to be, Hibari," Tsuna replied, not at all surprised by Hibari's presence right outside of the swordsman's room. He started down the hall back towards his office; Hibari trailed behind him. "Is there something you need to say, Hibari?"

"The car's ready," the Cloud Guardian answered.

Tsuna stopped. He let out a small sigh, "So you really weren't joking when you said that you'd follow me."

"I don't joke, Sawada."

* * *

_End Chapter Two_

_It took a while to make this one, but that's okay! [Grammar was edited]_

_Let's all hope that the author continues to write!_

_Happy holidays! X3_

_Reviews gladly appreciated! 3_

_**Ooh! Who do you guys want to see that's outside the family/Guardian circle? Like, Dino, Squalo, Bel, Fran, Xanxas, Lussuria, Levi, etc._


	3. Chapter Three: The Meeting

_Edit: I'm very OCD, so I when I found out I had spelling/grammar errors, I had to fix it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyou Hitman Reborn, Akira Amano does._

_**May contain spoilers**_

* * *

_**The Meeting**_

Hibari drove the Mercedes without so much as a cough. He was completely silent and other than turning the wheel and changing the pedal his foot was on, he was completely still. The most noise the car ride got was the sound of the windshield wipers swiping across the glass like a metronome, taking out the rain as soon as it landed.

"You know where to go?" Tsuna asked, breaking the silence.

"…" Hibari glanced at the mafia boss through the rearview mirror before returning his gaze back onto the wet asphalt ahead of him.

Tsuna looked out the window. "How'd you find out?"

"It's not hard to track you down, Sawada. The only reason why that right-hand dog of yours hasn't is because of his loyalty and trust in you. Trust that you don't seem to reciprocate."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "Hibari, we've already been over this. I do trust you all, I really do. Why else would you be here driving me to the rendezvous location?"

"I still don't like this, Sawada."

"Then you'll just have to deal with that dislike. And when I say 'deal with', I don't mean bite Irie to death like you would normally do or threaten to do. Be polite to Irie; he has more at stake than us right now."

The car stopped to let a shepherd and his sheep pass through the crowded street. Hibari glared at the sheep and their herder with irritation through the glass of the car. He sighed as he put the car into park and killed the engine. Just as he had done so, he heard the car door slam and turned around; Tsuna was gone. He looked out every window and spotted the man out in the rain.

His messy brown hair stuck to his head and his white suit was pelted on with water. He was directing the sheep lagging in the rear. When the sheep had reached the shepherd, who stood in the middle of the road, he waved to Tsuna and gave a bow and smile, which Tsuna returned with the same gesture.

The young mafia boss reached the car and was back inside by the time the shepherd had passed through. He watched in awe as two sheep waited for the last, smaller woolly animal that was falling behind again. The three sheep then made their way across the intersection as a warm, fluffy white hit Tsuna's wet, freezing face.

He took the veil away from his face and looked down at it before ruffling his hair.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're _too_ kind?" Hibari asked as he put the car back into drive.

Tsuna felt a small smile escorted by pain creep onto his face as he remembered what Mukuro had told him before he became too "busy" to talk. He draped the towel over his head and leaned back. The Vongola heir's voice came out slightly muffled, "Constantly."

* * *

"_Tsu-kun! You're a mess!" Warm hands covered by a soft yellow towel gently rubbed the face of a small five year-old. "What did I tell you about playing outside in the rain? What if you catch a cold?"_

"_It's alright, Mommy! If I want to be the best giant robot out there, I have to be able to fight in the rain like the one on TV!" the little boy yelled out triumphantly, still covered by the towel._

_The boy's mother laughed, "Even robots will get sick if they work too hard, Tsu-kun. And when they're sick, they get fixed by a mechanic."_

"_Then Mommy's a mechanic, right? Because mechanics fix robots!"_

"_Yes, yes. Mommy's a mechanic. She's your mechanic." The woman pressed her forehead against the small boy's. And the two's laughter filled the house._

* * *

"Sawada," Hibari called.

Tsuna opened his eyes to white and remembered that the towel was still over his face. He pulled it off, looking to his left. Hibari stood outside of an open car door. "We're here."

The car was surrounded by brown walls that resembled the earth's mud and soil. The floor was also this color, but smooth like nylon. Tsuna pushed himself out of the car and Hibari closed the door after he was out. He had almost snagged Tsuna's arm, but neither noticed nor said a word. Instead, their small silent conversation was interrupted by another's voice.

"Mr. Sawada, it's nice to see you again." A red-haired man, a few inches taller than Tsuna came over to the pair. He was dressed in blue jeans and a T-shirt. "You're Mr. Sawada's Cloud Guardian, Hibari Kyouya, yes?" He extended a hand, "My name is Irie Shoichi, pleased to meet you."

Hibari stood his ground, sparing the palm only a glance before returning his attention to Irie's face. Irie slowly lowered his hand and turned away from Hibari's death glare.

"Please excuse my subordinate's rudeness," Tsuna apologized. "Now then, would you like to share what's been happening lately in the Millefiore Family?"

Irie felt his stomach churn and cramp, but ignored it, "Right, then. Well, you're probably wondering about Byakuran's new accessory."

"The Mare Ring."

"Yes, the Mare Ring," Irie confirmed. "Just recently, Byakuran had acquired the Mare Rings from the Giglio Nero's boss, Uni. It wasn't physically forced from the Giglio Nero, but something was done to Uni that made her agree to combining her family's strength with Byakuran's. His next target to form an alliance with is your family, Mr. Sawada. I believe that you know why."

He nodded, "I do."

"And have you done as I instructed?"

"No," Tsuna answered. "I wanted to hear the next phase of your plan before doing that."

Irie scratched his arm nervously, "I see. But I really won't know what to do until after you destroy the rings. There's just too many possibilities, including death or—"

Before Irie could finish, he was pushed up against the earthy walls by Hibari, who had two steel tonfa out. One was pressed up against Irie's jaw and the other was spiked and ready for spilling blood.

"Kyouya!"

The Cloud Guardian turned his head towards Tsuna. Cold anger burned in his amber eyes and Hibari released the pressure he had on his prey. Irie breathed in deeply, coughing and choking at the chance that he had to finally refill his lungs.

"As I was saying," he coughed, "I have no way of knowing what will happen, but I'll let you know as soon as I can. Right now, because Byakuran still has a drive to make an alliance with you guys, I won't know what to do until I see what Byakuran's reaction is to you destroying the Vongola rings."

Hibari sighed, "So this meeting is just a waste of time?"

Tsuna ignored Hibari's comment and continued his conversation with Irie. "I see; I apologize for not destroying them yet." He glanced down at the watch around his wrist. "I have business to attend to early tomorrow morning, so I need to head back as quickly as possible. Is there anything you need me to do other than _that_?"

Irie shook his head. "I'm sorry that this meeting wasn't as productive as I would have hoped. I don't want to keep you here, so if you need to leave, please feel free to."

Tsuna made a small, short bow. "Thank you for your time, Irie."

* * *

"That was unacceptable," Tsuna scolded from the back seat of the Mercedes. "Irie had taken the time and risk to come and see us, yet you attack him at the mention of 'death'. What's wrong with you, Kyouya?"

Hibari remained silent. He was too prideful to respond to the younger man—his boss—after facing the humiliation of complying to someone he had once considered a herbivore.

Tsuna let out a sigh, "Well, there's nothing to do about it now. But next time we see him, I expect you to apologize. Understand?"

"Understood," Hibari muttered.

_Midori tanabiku—_Tsuna looked towards Hibari, who had one hand on the wheel and the other pressing a cell phone against his ear. "Yes? …Oh, it's you. Why did you call? … …If you wanted to talk to Sawada, you could have just called him instead." Hibari listened patiently, listening to the man on the other end of his phone rant. "If you're already at the mansion, just stay there. Sawada and I will be there soon. … …Stop complaining, how old are you? … …If you have nothing else to say, I'm hanging up. …What is it now? … … …I don't have time for something like that. Unlike you, I'm busy. … Good bye." Hibari closed his phone and threw it behind him.

"It was Cavallone," Hibari answered before Tsuna could ask. "He wanted to talk to you in person about something. But he didn't say why."

"We'll find out when we get there," Tsuna replied, looking out at the soaked landscape of Italy.

* * *

As the Mercedes approached the mansion, the thunder and lightning had faded, but the rain took no break. Outside of the Vongola home, one Lexus and five Highlanders—all black—sat outside of the front door along the curb.

"Looks like Cavallone brought his whole family," Hibari thought aloud as he parked the car next to the Lexus, which was in the center of the row of Highlanders.

"So it would appear," Tsuna agreed. He opened the door, not waiting for an umbrella and made a quick, but not rushed, jog towards the doors. The brown-haired boss pulled a key out of his pocket right before a blond-haired man wearing a fur coat pulled the doors open.

"If Tsuna isn't here then I'll—" The older man stopped looking at his junior who had also been trained by Reborn. "Tsuna!" His face brightened and he turned around to face the people inside. "Someone get a towel! Tsuna's soaking wet!"

He turned back to Tsuna, taking a step so that they were next to each other, and then placed a hand on his shoulder, escorting him into the warm mansion.

"Fuuta was at my place the other day, he said that he missed you and that he'd come visit soon. Did you see how tall he got over the years? Kids grew up fast, don't they?" he started off from there, chatting up a storm that rivaled the former thunder and lightning of the day as he and Tsuna went through hallway after hallway and up a staircase to the Vongola Boss's office.

"So, Tsuna," Dino closed the door to the room, lingering at the knob, debating whether or not he should lock it or leave it as is. He decided on the latter and turned to Tsuna. "I heard that lately you haven't been too well. Did something happen?"

Tsuna looked up at his mentor in surprise, "Who—"

Dino pressed a finger up to his lip, "Can't say. He'd bite me to death for sure if I told. Besides, even if he hadn't told me about it and how worried he was, I'd have found out eventually. So, what's wrong, Tsuna?"

"I guess, I'm just feeling stressed out," Tsuna told the older boss; he couldn't lie to his 'older brother'. He let out a sigh, which he thought would help him release the pent up emotions, but only proved to make them more noticeable. "And that stuff about the recent disappearances of several Families and Yamamoto's situation and then there's Lambo being bullied. It feels like there's just too much going on and not enough time. And I don't know what to do! If only Reborn were here…"

There was a short pause after Tsuna's mindset reverted back to his younger middle school self, when he was nick-named 'Useless Tsuna'.

Dino smiled softly and rested an equally soft calloused hand on Tsuna's shoulder. "It's really rough being a mafia boss and there will be times like this when you'll think nothing's going right and it feels like your sanity and organization are all slipping through your fingers. But, that's the time when you need to prove your worth as a Mafioso. It's just another hurdle you need to overcome in your path, sort of like the Ring Conflict."

Tsuna smiled gratuitously. "Thanks, Dino. You always know what to say in these kinds of situations."

"While it may not be exactly the same, I went through this kind of thing, too. Think of it as puberty for mafia bosses."

Tsuna laughed and Dino joined in; he was glad to hear Tsuna laughing again, to see him smiling.

"Is there something else you needed to ask me about?"

"Sharp intuition as always," Dino smiled, looking out the window. The rain had let up into a light shower. "I was going to invite you—and your Family, of course—to the annual Cavallone Christmas Party. It'll be held on Christmas Eve from seven evening to one in the morning. I also sent out invitations to Shamal, Lal Mirch, Colonello, Skull, the Tomaso Family, the Varia, the Bovino Family, and Bianchi as well as Reborn. Will you be able to come?"

"Of course," Tsuna smiled. "And when you said you sent out invitations, does that mean they also said yes or…"

"None of them replied yet," Dino answered, "But the people I sent an invitation to are supposed to give you a rough representation on which people will be there. Don't forget to prepare a speech. It's your turn this year."

Tsuna looked out the window, preoccupied by a droplet that was running down the glass. "Alright, I got it. I'll see you tomorrow, Dino."

The Cavallone boss made his way for the door, shooting Tsuna one last glance. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't. Then he opened the door, immediately greeted by Romario as well as Hibari's presence on his way out. His arms were crossed and his back was against the wall of the hallway.

Dino smiled, shutting the door. "Thanks for the tip-off, Kyouya."

"How many times have I told you not to call me by my first name, Cavallone?" Hibari muttered.

"Tsuna's doing alright. It's just stress, so don't give him any more than he already has to deal with." Dino walked past the man, ignoring his reminder. "Oh, Kyouya, before I forget…" He turned around and tossed the Cloud Guardian a white box. "There are some A-Class Cloud Attribute rings in there as well as a Cloud Attribute box weapon. I didn't open the box weapon, so I don't know what's inside."

Hibari opened the lid on the box. Inside, lined in a royal violet velvet were three rings and a purple box all neatly and snuggly fitted into their place. "Why are you giving me these?"

"Think of it as an early Christmas gift from your former tutor. I know you don't like crowds much, but I hope you can come to the Cavallone Christmas Party this year."

He lidded the box. "I don't celebrate Christmas."

"Then think of it this way: you'll need these rings to activate your box weapons from now on because Tsuna took your ring away."

The Cloud Guardian glared at Dino, but the Italian remained unfazed by the murderous aura being directed towards him. "Kyouya, I'm not pitying you. I'm just supplying you with weapons in case there's a struggle and you have no way to stop it. After all, you don't have many other Cloud Attribute rings, do you?"

"I still don't want this _gift_," Hibari announced bluntly.

"Accepting a present isn't a sign of weakness, it's a symbol of friendship and family," Dino replied. "If you want to be able to fight, you should accept this present."

"Fine," he muttered, "I'll keep the present, but only because it has captured my interests."

Dino stifled a laugh. Hibari's recent tough-guy guise reminded him of all those years ago when he trained the man for the Ring Conflict. "Alright then, Kyouya, I'll see you at the Christmas Party."

"Say that one more time, and I'll bite you to death."

* * *

Even while Tsuna stood in his own office, he did not feel at ease nor did he feel safe. But at the moment, he was especially perturbed. There was a cool feeling in the air that he did not like and he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Each leg held one mitten and that's where he hid his fingers. This however did nothing to keep the cold from chilling him to the bone.

"I don't see why everyone makes such a big fuss over the Vongola Hyper Intuition."

Tsuna didn't turn at the sound of the new voice. He didn't make a move. "Byakuran, is it?"

"Hn, I guess that intuition is scary if you're not even surprised by my presence. And I thought I hid it pretty well. I guess not."

Tsuna stood silently at the window, peering into the glass to see the reflection of a white haired man lounging on the couch near his bookshelves. "Is there a reason you came to see me so discreetly, Boss of the Millefiore?"

There was a soft squeak from the iron-spring sofa. The figure that was once sitting was now only a foot away from Tsuna after a noiseless trek to the window and the brown-haired boss. "Very good, Vongola Decimo, it just so happens that I've come to talk to you…Privately. Can your intuition guess what I came here for?"

"An alliance," Tsuna answered.

"Correct!' Byakuran smiled, eyes closed like a fox's. Enthusiasm emitted from the man, but the smile was fake, slyly pasted like that of the animal he resembled.

"I'm honored and flattered that you have presented an opportunity for the Vongola to form an alliance with the Millefiore, but I'm afraid I must decline your offer. I hope you'll understand."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sawada, but I don't understand," Byakuran answered, only barely containing his rage with a patient smile. "Could you please explain why you are declining such a chance?"

Tsuna glanced at the grinning man from the corner of his eyes, then returned his gaze back to the rose garden. "I refuse to form an alliance with a family whose ideals far from match that of the Vongola's."

The mask remained plastered on Byakuran's face. "Oh? And what are these ideals of the Vongola's? Peace? Justice? A world purged of sins?"

"We can only hope for a world without pointless conflict."

"Says a family that holds the highest power in the Underworld."

"Yes, but that power will soon fall."

"Oh? And why is that, if I may be as bold as to ask, Mr. Sawada."

Tsuna removed his right hand, which was covered by a black glove with the Vongola insignia printed on the back and held the Sky Ring, from his pocket. Using his left hand, which was also clothed with the same design, he fished out his guardians' rings from his jacket pocket and lay them all in the palm of his right. Without the help of a pill or a bullet, Tsuna lit his Dying Will Flame. "This is why…"

The fingers of his right hand curled over the rings in his palms, shielding them from Byakuran's gaze. Then, without hesitation, Tsuna's glove flared, warming the room.

Byakuran's eyes widened in shock as the giant orange flames jumped from Tsuna's fist. His mask slowly melted away by the heat of the fire. Tsuna stared blankly at his hand.

After a good whole two minutes, Tsuna opened his right hand and let the burning, deformed metals fall to the floor. "And now," Tsuna said as the smoke caught the attention of the detectors on the ceiling, "the Vongola's position as the highest Underworld power is no more."

The face of the Vongola X lacked expression and stared blankly at the burning scraps as the whole room was showered with water and the flames that engulfed the scraps were doused. The true feelings of the Millefiore's Boss, on the other hand, were open for public-viewing. The remnant pieces of the mask that had formerly covered the man's face were washed away.

Byakuran somehow managed to scavenge a few remains of the broken smile as the water poured on the two mafia bosses. He formed his oddly pieced-together countenance. "I see then, Mr. Sawada. However, I would still like to form an alliance with the Vongola. Let's talk again some other time, alright? Hopefully when you won't have Guardians that will come barging in on a _private_ meeting."

The man quietly retreated away from Tsuna into the shadows.

Tsuna shot Byakuran a cruel, fake smile of his own as the man tried to flee from view. "From which point on was this a 'private' meeting?"

"Just remember, Vongola Decimo," Byakuran's voice rang around the room, over the sound of the misting water. "I'll be back."

Tsuna turned his attention back to the seven scraps that lay at his feet after the chill finally left the room. He looked lifelessly beyond the former rings, lost within his own mind, too preoccupied to even realize that his Storm Guardian had barged into the room followed closely by Yamamoto, Ryohei, and Hibari.

"Tenth!" Gokudera rushed over to his boss, grasping him by the shoulders. "Are you alright? Did anything happen?"

There was only silence until the mist stopped spraying.

"Nothing," Tsuna replied, his voice equally expressionless as his face. "Nothing happened…"

Yamamoto and Ryohei walked into the room, feet sloshing in the soaked carpet. They approached their boss with brows knitted with worry. Hibari stood at the doorway. From where he stood, he could see seven, black, steaming lumps lying on singed carpet, the only part of the carpet that wasn't saturated with water. Then, he cast Tsuna a quick glance before leaving the area, cell phone in hand.

"The deed was done. I hope you're happy," Hibari muttered into the receiver before flipping the phone shut. Then he stuffed it into his pockets, taking out a pair of steel tonfa as he headed for the training room on the first floor.

* * *

_End Chapter Three_

_Wow, these just get longer and longer and longer and longer…Hopefully they're getting better as well._

_Review please! 3_


	4. Chapter Four: Haunted Christmas

_Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyou Hitman Reborn! Akira Amano does! (I know this is getting repetitive, but still! Bare with it please!)_

_The Christmas Party is finally here! ^^_

_It's just too bad that I couldn't get this finished before Christmas (or even before the new year! XD)_

_Okay, you guys are probably tired of reading this mini rant, on to the story! Hope you enjoy! ^^_

* * *

_**Haunted Christmas**_

A group of five entered a large rectangular ballroom. Lattice windows lined the walls, spaced about ten feet apart from the other and large, round support pillars made of polished orange stone connected the ceiling and the floor. The dance floor, which was comprised of a brown and gold geometric design, was set within the enclosed area of the guarding pillars while the space outside the supporters was shaded by a second floor, which was more or less a balcony that hovered over the edges of the first floor. Depicted on the slightly curved ceiling were little cherubs, children with wings, flying and hiding in the clouds. All the angels were centered around the base of gold with a chain that was linked to several crystals, all shining and reflecting their own version of light.

People—members of the mafia—were dressed in the clothes of the rich and wealthy; the women were wearing long evening gowns, most, glittering under the light of the crystal chandelier and the men wore suits—the majority, Italian—tailored to fit perfectly to their bodies. All held masks, which covered a portion of their face. The group that walked in was no exception to this general dress code.

The party was led by a well-toned, but relatively thin, brown-haired man whose messy hair and amber eyes were unmistakable. Close behind him trailed a silver-haired man with stormy green orbs that peeked through the holes in the masks, scanning the surroundings for threats to his leader. Next to him was a slightly tanned man with black hair and toffee eyes as well as a face that had once glowed with smiles now full of sadness. Following behind was a man with a silver-grey cowlick and a mask-less man with ebony locks and irises as dark as oblivion. His pale hands were hidden by pockets and his face expressed how much displeasure he had for coming to such a gathering.

"Tsuna! Welcome to the party!" a blond-haired man exclaimed as he walked up to the group. In one hand was a glass of champagne and under the arm of the other was a man with silvery long hair.

"Voi!" the man yelled from his position. "Let go of me, Dino! If I wanted to greet the Vongola, I would have done it by myself! Without this humiliating scene!"

"It's only humiliating when you let the world know you're here," Dino smiled, giving a small nodding gesture to a guest behind them.

"Just let go, you idiot!"

"Promise not to run away?"

"I have my pride as a member of the Varia," he spat.

Dino released his arm, "Alright then!"

The long-haired man straightened his posture, dusting at the spot on his arm that was previously grasped by Dino. Then, he turned to the leader of the five. There was a glare of extreme annoyance from the man, but he continued on to a greeting. "On behalf of the Varia," he started, silently adding in his head: _and our spoiled Boss_, "we'd like to extend our wishes of a wonderful—"

"Christmas and New Years to the Vongola," a high voice interrupted, "It's the same exact thing you always say for special occasions. Isn't it, Squalo?"

Squalo turned around, facing the blond-haired prince. "Voi! No one said you had to come over here! Why don't you just keep your eye on the new guy?"

A frown graced the prince's lips and he clicked his tongue in disgust, "That un-cute subordinate? He's no fun to tease; there's no reaction from him at all. He just stands around taking all my hits emotionlessly. It's very frustrating."

The mask-less man of the five left as Squalo erupted once more. "I'll be outside. Call if you need me," he announced to Tsuna as he quietly walked away from the commotion.

"Then don't bug me, stupid Belphegor! Go bug Marmon or something!" he snapped.

"He's not here," Belphegor muttered.

"What? Why did I pay him then?" Squalo exclaimed.

Bel smirked, even without seeing his eyes one could tell he was thinking: you actually _paid_ Marmon to show up?

"How should I know? All he told me was that something more rewarding than the (stupid) party came up and he left."

"What? Where do his loyalties lie? That stupid Arco—"

_Bang!_

Squalo stopped mid-sentence and looked at the direction where everyone else was looking towards, hidden weapons coming out into the open.

A soft smile crept onto Tsuna's face, and he closed his eyes. Even without looking he knew who it was that made the shot. At the sight of this, Dino, too, couldn't help but smile.

"How was Paris, Reborn?" Tsuna asked from where he stood, not turning to see his tutor who stood behind him.

Reborn tipped his fedora, completely shading his eyes. "Peaceful."

The eyes of the audience followed Reborn as he walked towards his once hapless pupil. "Balcony," he murmured so low that Tsuna had barely even caught his voice and not even Gokudera, who was beside his boss, could hear what he said. After the short 'exchange', the party resumed after a quick clap from Dino.

"Let's continue this party, shall we?" he smiled to his guests and they continued their previous conversations and activities. Dino turned back to Tsuna, Squalo, and the others. His shook his head from side to side with a smile much softer than the one he had used in his announcement. "Still likes to cause a bit of trouble even now, doesn't he? Well, that's our tutor, right Tsuna?" He hooked an arm around Tsuna's neck.

"Yeah, that's Reborn, alright." He glanced up at the second floor, finding his tutor leaning over the rail on his elbow. "Uh, Dino, if you don't mind…"

"By all means, Tsuna," Dino withdrew his arm, allowing the Vongola boss freedom to move again. "It's been a while since you guys last had a conversation together, right? Go on! Just remember that you need to come back down for your speech."

Tsuna hid the pain that should have come out as laughter with a smile. "I'll try to remember that." Then, he made his way towards the staircase.

Gokudera had only moved a step after him when he was stopped by Yamamoto, who had rested a hand on his shoulder. There was a pained smile on Yamamoto's face as well, though not as pained as Tsuna's. "Let's leave them to their privacy, okay Hayato?"

He sighed, following Tsuna's figure with his eyes until he saw him reach Reborn. Then he started walking headed towards the opposite direction of his boss, shrugging the Rain Guardian's hand off his shoulder. "Fine, but you'll have to keep me distracted so I don't run over to Tenth."

Yamamoto let out a familiar throaty laughter as he followed the Storm Guardian. "Got it, how about some drinks then? I'll buy."

"Stupid, the drinks are free," Gokudera muttered as Yamamoto laughed loudly in response.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Squalo asked aloud, directing the question to one in particular.

"His father recently passed away," the last member of the original party replied.

Squalo didn't take his eyes off the dark-haired guardian and his face didn't morph to show any specific emotion. "Is that all he's sulking over?"

"I didn't know this until now, but that guy is actually suicidal. Back in his first year of middle school, I didn't know him too well. But I heard that he almost killed himself because he couldn't play baseball with a broken arm. Sawa-Boss stopped him before he did anything. Gokudera told me that his tendency didn't break out since then, but his father's death really shook him up and he came really close."

"And I'm guessing that guy stopped him again?" Squalo questioned aloofly, feigning disinterest.

Ryohei nodded, "From what the maids told me, after Sa-Boss got into Yamamoto's room, he started eating regularly again. He left for Japan after he heard what happened to his father, but came back soon after. Yamamoto was supposed to leave again, right after Boss talked him out of suicide, but he decided to stay when he heard that there was going to be a Christmas Party. I think Gokudera talked him into staying until after the holiday."

Dino scratched the back of his head, "The holidays are a dangerous time of the year, especially this year, with all the recent terminations."

* * *

Gokudera took a sip from his glass of champagne. He looked out the window, checking for enemies and assassins. It wasn't that he didn't trust the Cavallone defenses, but risking the possibility of an attempted attack on Tsuna due to lack of alertness was not something Gokudera could allow.

"Is there any other reason you had me come to this party other than to guard Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked. He was leaning against a pillar holding a chalice filled with bubbling gold liquid similar to Gokudera's. His attention was open to his surroundings, but his eyes focused on the bubbles that rose to the smooth surface.

The Storm Guardian's cheeks reddened and his eyebrows scrunched together. "Y-Yeah right, idiot! Like I'd try to persuade you to stay here longer than necessary if it weren't for the Tenth! It's not like I was trying to cheer you up a bit or anything!"

Yamamoto chuckled, noticing Gokudera's accidentally revealed truth. He played his role as the idiot Gokudera remembered him to be, "I guess so."

The two stood silently. Yamamoto looked at his glass, spinning the glass in his hand by the stem, and Gokudera watched Yamamoto fiddle with the glassware between his fingers.

"Actually," Gokudera broke the silence, "there is another reason why I asked you to stay. Here and now probably isn't the time and place to say it, but I had to make sure I got your opinion on this matter before you went back to Japan."

"Let me guess: do you think Tsuna is hiding something from us?"

Stun shook Gokudera internally but he managed to stare at Yamamoto with well-hidden bewilderment. Yamamoto looked up at him when there was no reply, a small smile on his face. "I'm not the same idiot from middle school anymore, Hayato." He looked at the moon through the window. "Even I can tell that Tsuna's in more pain than the rest of us, more than he should be in."

Gokudera scoffed and finished off the rest of his champagne, "And here I thought that you were the only thing I could count on for staying the same since those days in middle school."

"We've all changed, Hayato," Yamamoto didn't take his eyes off the large, round, glowing gem in the sky. "And that's mostly thanks to Tsuna."

* * *

As Tsuna approached his old home tutor, the people on the balcony slowly cleared away. Reborn's eyes were shaded by his fedora, as usual and a yellow pacifier hung from neck, looking smaller than it had when they first met. The Arcobaleno looked nothing like he had in previous years. He was now a fully grown man, equally as lean as Tsuna.

"How have you been, Tsuna?" Reborn asked as Tsuna came closer, despite hearing only silent footsteps. He kept his gaze fixated on the dancing that commenced beneath them. Reborn was never really one for small talk, and that's what led to Tsuna's worry grow inside of him.

He sighed, "I've been better, but you probably knew that, right?"

Tsuna's sigh resulted in a knock on the forehead by the back of Reborn's hand. However it was light and almost playful, something that Reborn normally never did. "Silly Tsuna, haven't you ever heard? Sighing just makes you lose a bit more of happiness. Now stop acting like you've been shot by the Desolation Bullet."

The Vongola Boss smiled, remembering his second year of middle school when he first met Naito, who was now the eighth boss of the Tomaso Family. "Alright, I'll try not to."

Reborn smirked at his response, "At least that part of you didn't change since you burned the Vongola rings."

Tsuna closed his eyes, leaning over the oak rail as well. "So you heard about that, too."

"Nothing escapes these ears; these are the ears of a hitman," Reborn replied. He cast a sideways glance to Tsuna, "And while you may think you can fool everyone with your smiles, the pain and hollowness always peaks through to the surface. It's just making everyone worry more."

Same old Reborn; he would always be blunt on things like this but cryptic when it came to the many hurdles he had to face in life just to be where he is today. "I know the rings are important to the Vongola's traditions and that the Sky ring especially represents the sins carried down from boss to boss, but they're also reminders of what my friends and I had to go through. Those rings were a link that we all shared, and when I burned them, I really just wanted to put out the fires right away, but it was something I had to do. After they became darkened scraps not even identifiable as rings, I could feel something snap inside me. There was sadness, but there was something else, too. That something else prohibited me from crying—"

Reborn gave Tsuna another whack on the head, this time a bit harder than the last. "Stop being so melodramatic, Tsuna. Those rings are important to Vongola history, probably the most important relics in the world…"

Tsuna glared at Reborn, feeling his guilt level rise.

The tutor tried to ignore the look on Tsuna's face that was so unlike him, but couldn't help but smile. "But, they weren't the only things that connected you and your friends to all the battles you went through. Right now, the fact that you're all still together and can look back at those days is proof that the strongest link still exists. That link, Tsuna, is you, not some old artifacts of the past. Tsuna, you once told me that before your Guardians were Guardians, they were your friends. That's what you told me, and do you remember what I said to you?"

"'Never forget your feelings,'" Tsuna replied.

"So, what does that mean?"

Tsuna thought quietly, looking down at the people all festively dressed for the holidays. Then he saw Gokudera and Yamamoto under the balcony apposing them. They were talking and although he couldn't see their faces, he could tell by their actions that they were worried. A smile befell his face with his revelation, "The safety and feelings of my friends should come before any shoddy piece of metal."

"Wrong!" Reborn hit Tsuna again, this time was the hardest and Tsuna even rubbed his forehead, checking for a lump. He looked at Reborn confusedly and his tutor's face was devoid of his playful smile. "The Vongola Rings are _not_ 'shoddy pieces of metal' under any circumstance!"

The two were silent, Tsuna just staring at Reborn until his tutor smiled again. His tone was softer than when he had yelled at Tsuna, "But you're right about the other part." He looked out over the people again. "Trust your friends, not just as comrades, but as people that you've grown up with. The amount of faith they have in you should be reciprocated in equivalence or even more than that."

Tsuna smiled, "Thanks, Reborn."

"Now that we have that settled, there's something important I wanted to tell you before it was announced to the world."

This time no worry clenched at his insides. He was ready for what Reborn had to say. "What is it?"

Reborn took a quick check of his surroundings before he announced quietly, "Skull is dead."

The color drained from Tsuna's face. That readiness he had before dissolved like ice on a summer street. "H-How?"

Reborn shook his head, "I investigated his death and while doing so, I found out that twelve more families had been wiped out, the rest of the Calcassa included. When they found his body, his pacifier was gone."

Tsuna swallowed the pain that was trying to escape through his throat. "Then, what about Colonello, Verde, Fong, and Marmon?"

"Colonello and Marmon were dispatched to further investigate the recent happenings in the Underworld yesterday and Fong's still on his current mission," Reborn explained.

"And Verde?"

"We haven't been able to contact him or locate the laboratory he has been using to develop the box weapons in," Reborn replied. "Right now, all we can do is hope that he wasn't taken down either."

Tsuna couldn't contain his shock, "Skull, an Arcobaleno, taken out. How unbelievable…If it wasn't you telling me this, I probably wouldn't believe it."

Reborn hid his eyes in the shade made by the rim of his fedora. "Tsuna, your intuition has been telling you something lately, right? That's why you burned the rings, right?"

"Yes," Tsuna half-lied.

"Do you know why the Arcobaleno exist?"

Tsuna shook his head.

"I'm going to tell you why because it has a connection to the Mare Rings as well as the Vongola Rings. I avoided telling you about this before because it had nothing to do with you, but now you need to know about the Arcobaleno and our pacifiers." Tsuna waited to listen to what his tutor had to say, observing every movement his tutor had. For a split second, Tsuna could have sworn he saw the hitman shiver.

"The Arcobaleno were created to protect the balance of a power referred to as the _tre-ni-sette_. From the strongest, the top seven were chosen. They were the _i'prescelti sette_—the chosen seven. The _i'prescelti sette_ gathered together one day. They all knew why they were to be gathered, but they had no idea that they would be cursed to live as babies. But, due to the interference of one extra person, eight babies were 'born'. One, however, had been dubbed a 'failure'."

"Was the 'failure' the extra?" Tsuna asked.

"The Arcobaleno that holds the blue pacifier was the extra. He tried to rescue one of us which resulted in the creation of a 'failure'," Reborn answered. "Tsuna, you can't tell anyone about this, not even your friends and Family, understand?"

The brown-haired boss nodded, "I understand."

Reborn stood up straight and patted Tsuna on the shoulder, "Good, then I have two more things to say."

"Yes?"

The tutor headed towards the staircase without looking back, "_Buone Natale_ and _Arrivederci_, Tsuna."

Tsuna closed his eyes. Deep inside, he knew that this would be the last time he would see Reborn. "_Arrivederci_…"

"Tsuna!" Dino called from the first floor. Tsuna looked down from the railing, leaning over the edge. "Time for your speech!"

* * *

The Vongola boss made his way to the middle of the dance floor, which had been cleared as the stage for his speech. He hid his weariness as well as the multitude of emotions that had erupted after his conversation with Reborn by using a masking smile that was appropriate for the occasion. This smile was his best fake yet; it was perfectly constructed so that even his guardians believed it was real for a second.

Tsuna raised a glass of champagne, turning his head in every direction gesturing a quick nod to the gathered. "Friends, Family, everyone, this year has been full of sadness and loss, but today is not a day for that. Today is the day for happiness and celebration. Tonight we should forget the pains that have come with the falling of comrades and passes of our loved ones." Water began to well in Tsuna's eyes, glazing them over. But Tsuna held them back with his perfect mask. "Tonight is the night we celebrate a holiday with festive feelings. Cheers, everyone!" He lifted his glass in the air and everyone followed suit. As Tsuna pressed his lips against the cold glass, the tears that he had been blocking flooded out silently.

From the shadows of the pillars, four men watched the middle man cry silently, finding themselves hopelessly unable to help their boss—their friend.

Next to the entrance of the ballroom, another man stood against the wall. After seeing the speaker drink his champagne, he tipped his fedora and retreated from the room.

For all the holiday cheer in the air, an undetectable dark cloud haunted over the chandelier-lighted room.

* * *

_End Chapter Four_

_Wah! I didn't like this chapter too much, and I had to do a bit of rereading to make sure I spelled Tomaso and Calcassa correctly. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed it! ^^_

_Oh, and for the story about the Arcobaleno, I assumed it went sort of like that based half off of what Gingerbread had said in chapters 179-181 and what the anime fillers provided. It may not be how things truly went down, so it's not a reliable source for the Arcobaleno's creation._

_Some Italian Translations:_

_i'prescelti sette: "the chosen seven" [referenced from Gingerbread]_

_tri-ni-sette: 7__3_

_Buone Natale: Merry Christmas_

_Arrivederci: Good Bye_

_Next chapter will either be a short chapter for things going on in Japan or will be the [longer] second meeting with Shouichi!_


	5. Chapter Five: In Japan

_Disclaimer: Me no owns Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Akira Amano do_

_Hahaha, so on we go! I hope I don't mess up with my juggling. __

* * *

_**In Japan**_

Several black cars, lined up in one row, occupied the road leading to the airport. One single white car drove in the middle of this black line.

"I'm really thankful that you wanted to pay your respects to Dad, but you didn't need to bring the whole Family, Tsuna," Yamamoto smiled from a small television screen that covered the back of a beige leather headrest.

"We're all here to stand by you, Yamamoto. After all, we're all your friends. Besides, even if I didn't ask them to come, they would've wanted to go anyways," Tsuna answered with a soft smile on his lips. His black-haired chauffer glanced at the brown-haired man from the rearview mirror, eyes narrowing at the sight of seeing the well-pasted smile.

The man looked back at the road, noticing a small blinking red light emitting from next to a button. "You have another call, Sawada."

Tsuna stretched out his neck to see the light. "I got to go now, Yamamoto. Let's talk more later, okay?"

Yamamoto nodded, "Then I'll see you—"

"Wait!" Gokudera's voice cried from the screen. The Rain Guardian turned to see a silver-haired man in an apron slam the door to his small office open. "Are you talking to the Tenth right now?" he panted.

"Ah, Hayato, I was just about to hang up."

"Just a second, please?" he begged.

"It's alright with me, but Tsuna has another call on the line."

Gokudera tensed up, finding it hard to choose between talking with Tsuna and allowing his friend to do his job. "I-I see, then I'll just talk to the Tenth later."

"You heard him, right Tsuna?" Yamamoto smiled. The brown-haired man nodded with a semi-amused smile on his face. "Right, then call when you land in Narita, okay? We'll pick you up. Bye."

"Bye, Tenth!" Gokudera quickly added in before Yamamoto cut the feed.

"Was there really another call on the line, Hibari, or was there something that you wanted to say?" Tsuna questioned his chauffer. His smile had faded away in the silence.

"Why? Did you not trust me?"

Tsuna closed his eyes, opening his mouth to sigh, but stopped himself. "Hibari, do we need to go through this again?"

Hibari didn't say anymore on the topic and instead answered Tsuna's first question. "The call was from Irie. He has already hung up, but he left a message. I'll play it right now." The Cloud Guardian reached for a button on the radio and a face appeared on the screen in front of Tsuna, whose eyes widened in shock.

On the screen in front of him was a white-haired man with a purple tattoo under his left eye. His corner of his lips curled up into a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Sawada," the man greeted. "I heard you were going to visit Japan and I decided to use Shou-chan's phone before I headed back to Italy. You see, I was here for a Christmas Party, like the one that Cavallone held except it was smaller. Well, that's all the time I have if you're not picking up. Shou-chan will be mad if I miss my flight. Bye-bye."

After the screen turned off, the car was silent again. Hibari turned to see Tsuna's stunned expression. "Who was that, Sawada?"

At the sound of Hibari's voice, Tsuna recovered himself. "That was the leader of the Millefiore, Byakuran."

"The Millefiore's Byakuran? Interesting…"

* * *

Baggage claim was normally the second worst thing that came with traveling next to airplane food. For the Vongola, however, there were no problems. Black bags, all identical in brand and style, came sliding down into the carousel. These bags were then picked up by one of the many subordinates that had arrived from Italy.

"Tenth!" Gokudera waved to his childhood friend and boss with a smile resembling a child's. After being away from Tsuna for almost a week, all he could do was smile. "Welcome back to Japan!"

Tsuna scanned the area of waiting bystanders. The only two from the crowd that he recognized were Yamamoto and Gokudera. "You didn't tell Kyoko or Haru about my return, did you?"

The smile slowly faded from Gokudera's face. "I did as you instructed, Tenth. All they know is that you'll be back for a few days and you'll visit them if you get the chance."

"Thanks, Gokudera," Tsuna smiled, trying to lift Gokudera's mood up.

"Yo, Tsuna!" Yamamoto smiled as he walked up to the brown-haired boss. A familiar happiness had finally begun its return to Yamamoto, something that Tsuna—and even Gokudera—was glad about. "The car's waiting for us outside. Where's Hibari?" He asked, looking behind Tsuna for the Cloud Guardian.

"There was some business he needed to take care of," Tsuna explained. "He said that he'd come meet up with us a little bit later."

"Okay, then I guess I'm driving."

"No way are you driving, stupid Takeshi," Gokudera barked, grabbing the car keys from the taller man. "I'm driving."

The two started walking towards the exit, Yamamoto chuckling at Gokudera's annoyance. Watching the two's back reminded Tsuna of when they were younger. Both of them had matured, but they were both still the same despite the situation. Whether or not the two were acting this way for Tsuna or out of nature, though, he couldn't tell.

His nostalgia was interrupted by a creeping coldness. The freezing temperature, however, did not make him shiver. Instead, he found the cool to be mysteriously relaxing.

"He's not dead yet," the voice of a woman whispered into Tsuna's ear. He made a sharp turn but couldn't find the owner of the familiar voice. The only thing he could see was the bunch of people waiting for passengers to arrive into the port.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto called, causing him to turn his attention back to his two childhood friends. "Are you coming?"

"I'll be right there," Tsuna yelled back. He checked around him one more time before following after his friends, feeling predatory eyes cut at his back.

* * *

A rather short man with a glossy head stood waiting at the edge of Namimori's forest, humming as he watched the clouds roll by. Japan was in for a late snow season. His soft music stopped playing as a large car pulled up ten feet away from him.

From the car emerged a silver-haired man that ran over to open the back door for his boss. A swordsman, who had ridden in the passenger seat, came out last.

"Vongola Decimo!" the short man bowed, "It's great to see you again, sir!"

"It's good to see you again, too, Giannini. So, where is your recent project?"

The inventor smiled smugly as he led the trio behind him into the forest. "We're here," he announced as they reached a small clearing. "Now, all I have to do is open the door." He turned to Yamamoto, "Now, if you'd be so kind as to supply a cover with your Pioggia…"

The swordsman gave a nod and fished out a blue box from his pocket. He pushed his ring into the indent on one of the box's sides and a sparrow covered in blue Dying Will flames flew out, sprinkling harmless rain over the group, gradually turning the sprinkling into a pelting downpour.

At exactly the right moment, the downpour cleared and Giannini stood at an opening to the underground. "This way please," the inventor smiled, gesturing to the metal staircase with his hands.

* * *

The sky was the color of burning night—violent red and soft orange dying down as it met brooding blue, mysterious indigo, and deep violet dotted with shimmering sparkles. The golden sun sat right above the greens of the trees still brave enough to grow in the winter before a blanket of white settled in.

At Namimori shrine, situated at the top of a hill, the leaves on the trees weren't so brave and the brown crisps littered the front courtyard, which were quickly swept to the side by a light breeze. Starting from the posts of the mahogany-red Torii gate was a line of men, each with a black pompadour attached to their scalps. They were almost all identical with the exception of one, who had a sprig of wheat sticking out of his mouth.

A man with flat hair that could symbolize oblivion and eyes of sharp grey stepped out of the driver's side of a Mercedes parked along the curb in front of the stone steps leading up to the shrine. He was dressed in a suit and held a briefcase in his left hand. The index and middle fingers on his right hand were adorned with rings set with purple gems of different shapes and sizes.

"Welcome home, Sir Hibari Kyouya!" the line chanted in unison.

"Hn," the man acknowledged as he walked past the row of men until he reached the temple, where he took off his leather shoes. Without another word or any hurried motion, he slid open the paper-screen door and retired to the hidden room.

The two lines dispersed and the man with straw in his mouth took off his shoes before following his boss into the temple.

"Do you have any new information, Kusakabe?" the man asked as he slid his arms through the sleeves on a kimono. His suit was neatly folded in a basket.

"Our intelligence stationed close the Vendiche Prison has reported that Rokudou Mukuro was seen fighting a man from the Millefiore known as 'Glo Xinia', a member of the white spell and holder of the Rain Mare Ring," Kusakabe announced.

Hibari wrapped his _obi_ around his waist and tied it together. He sat down on a seat cushion as another man came into the temple, serving two cups of tea on the short table. After the man left, the seated man took a sip of the bitter green tea. "Outcome of the battle?" he asked, half interested.

When no reply came, the man turned to look Kusakabe in the eyes. However, their eyes didn't meet; Kusakabe's gaze was averted to the floor. "Rokudou Mukuro lost. The subordinate stationed near Vendiche also told me that Rokudou Mukuro also lost his life in the battle.

An odd little silence settled over the room. Hibari's hand that held the tea cup trembled slightly, but his voice was steady and his face was hard, "And Chrome Dokuro?"

Kusakabe shook his head, "She's still missing from that time she and Kokuyo tried to free Rokudou Mukuro."

"I see," Hibari mumbled. "Please tell Sawada the information you just told me."

The subordinate stood up and bowed, "Understood, Kyou." Then he turned for the sliding door, leaving the oblivion man alone in the room.

"Stupid idiot," he muttered, grip tightening around the cup until it shattered. "_I_ was supposed to be the one to bite you to death…"

* * *

The ground of the forest quaked and dirt slid backwards, revealing a metal staircase as well as four men that came out from the hole.

"Thanks for the tour, Giannini," the leading man smiled as they reached the level ground.

"It's an honor to have made the base, Vongola Decimo—I mean, Mr. Sawada."

"Just make sure that the medical facility is top-notch and it'll be perfect," Tsuna reminded; his voice just barely audible over the sound of the closing hatch.

"Of course, Mr. Sawada," the short inventor smiled. "Well, I parked on the other side of the forest, so I'll be going that way." He pointed backwards with his thumb before walking off.

"Yamamoto, can you get out your sparrow?" Tsuna whispered to the Rain Guardian.

The swordsman nodded, already aware of what Tsuna's next request would be. He opened his Box once again and released the bird. "After Giannini, please," he said to the circling animal before it followed after the Vongola's inventor.

"So, where to now, Tsuna?"

Gokudera glared up at Yamamoto, who was now only a few inches taller than him, "Hey, I thought I told you that _I'm_ driving."

"Actually," Tsuna interrupted before a fight could break out between the two, "I'm going to take a little walk instead."

Yamamoto and Gokudera exchanged looks of shock and confusion then looked back at their boss with worry. "T-Tenth…I don't think that's such a great idea. With all the recent disappearances, we can't just let you go around alone."

"Besides, Tsuna, you're not just our 'boss', you're our friend. It's too dangerous for us to separate. Especially since what we're dealing with also took out Skull of the Arcobaleno."

Tsuna gave his friends an appreciative smile. "You guys don't need to worry, I have my X-Gloves with me and it's not like I'll be _leaving_ Namimori. I'm just going to be walking around a bit. If I get into any trouble, I release some flames into the air, okay?"

Gokudera took a step forward, "Tenth—"

A calloused, tanned hand rested on the silver-haired man's shoulder. While the hand looked relaxed, the reality was that it was clasped tightly over the suit. "Just don't forget to signal to us, okay, Tsuna?"

He nodded, "I won't." Then the brown-haired boss turned from his two childhood friends, heading for a different exit of the forest. His hands crawled to his pockets, one hand slipped into a mitten while the other took out a small, beaten charm. On the outside of the pouch was a picture of a blue fish. A small reminiscing smile found a home on Tsuna's lips as he held the small charm, which was nearly ten years old.

His smile widened and he closed his eyes. In his mind, the figure of a young woman with long orange hair appeared in his mind. "Kyoko…"

* * *

_A large round moon surrounded by small stars popped out from the dark night sky. "Eh? You have to go on a business trip to Italy?" Kyoko asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. A mess of brown lay on her lap and thin fingers twined into the ends of her hair absentmindedly._

"_Yeah, I have to get packed up and be ready in a week," the mess replied, amber eyes staring up into bright hazel orbs. The light dimmed in the sparkling eyes after hearing the words leave mouth._

"_I see," she smiled understandingly, "Your promotion just made you busier and more important, right? I told you, didn't I? You're not useless." She placed a gentle kiss on a cleared forehead._

_The chestnut left her lap and sat up beside her, turned to face her and pressed lips upon hers. "Thanks Kyoko." His smile was soft and genuine. He caressed her reddened cheeks with his hand and kissed her again._

"_T-Tsu-kun!"_

"_Sorry," he apologized, "I couldn't help it; you just looked too cute!"_

_At this, she turned a deep cherry red. "How do you manage to say this with a straight face?" she asked, embarrassed._

_He kissed her again, this time on her forehead. "That's because it's true."_

"_You're too nice, Tsu-kun," she murmured._

_Tsuna laughed, "Maybe I am."_

* * *

Without realizing it, Tsuna's feet had taken him to the park. Kindergarteners climbed and slid and swung, laughing and smiling. He took a step into the now miniature world and spotted a small boy crying in the center of the playground. A girl and a boy were next to him. Tsuna walked over to the three, squatting down to their height.

"Hey, is something wrong?" he asked the children with a smile.

"We were playing tag and Yuuta-kun tripped," the girl explained to the man. She glanced at the boy next to her. His arms were crossed and he snorted, turning his head away from her.

Tsuna caught the small motion, but picked Yuuta up, placing him on his shoulders. "Well, if it's Yuuta-kun's turn to be it, then I'll just have to be his legs, now won't I?"

The girl's eyes lit up like gems and even the sulking boy's attention was stolen. "You'll really do that for us, Big Brother?" she smiled.

Tsuna shrugged, "That's only if Yuuta-kun wants to." He looked up at the boy, his messy brown hair flattened by the kindergartener, "So how about it, Yuuta-kun, want me to help you out?"

Little Yuuta gave a vigorous nod and Tsuna looked down at the kids. "Well, you saw what he said, so let's play."

* * *

The orange that plagued the sky was reduced to a sliver between a sulking magenta and the small children at the park hurried home with their parents for dinner. As the sun set, poles with artificial light at the ends lit up the near-empty streets.

Tsuna's jacket hung over his shoulder and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up. He squatted at eye level with Yuuta with a smile. Behind Yuuta was his mother, who was smiling as well.

"It was fun playing with you today, Yuuta-kun. When you get home, make sure you help Mommy with dinner and get all cleaned up, okay?" Tsuna patted the kindergartener's head.

"Will you play with Saku and Mitsu and me again, Tuna-bro?" Yuuta asked meekly, under Tsuna's warm hand.

Tsuna shook his head. "Starting tomorrow, I'll be very busy, so I don't know if I'll be able to come back and play or not. And I have to go back to my work."

"Work? Where does Tuna-bro work?"

"I own a cannery over in Italy," Tsuna answered, "And my friends and workers are counting on me to be there."

"Italy? Is Italy far away from here?"

"It's far away from Japan." Tsuna looked up at the sound of a car parking at the entrance of the playground. His Cloud Guardian came out of the driver's side of the vehicle. The man kept his distance from the park, leaning against the car door, arms crossed with an impatient glare aimed at Tsuna.

The brown-haired man turned back to Yuuta, who had tried to distract his sadness with a small pebble on the floor. Tsuna lifted Yuuta up into the air from under the boy's arms. The surprised kindergartener looked at Tsuna with a mixture of happiness and bewilderment. "I'll teach you a little bit of Italian so you can tell me it when we see each other again."

"Really?" Yuuta's eyes were the size of dinner plates and glittered like polished glass.

Tsuna nodded, "The word is _ciao_; it means 'hello' and 'bye'."

"Chi-aossu?" Yuuta tilted his head to the side questioningly.

The color and smile drained from Tsuna's face as he remembered his tutor. A mixture of sorrow and worry pounded on his heart and made his stomach clench. The feeling of Hibari's hard stare brought him back to reality and he recovered a soft smile. "Close enough." Tsuna set Yuuta back down on his feet. "Now, then, don't forget to help your Mommy when you get home, alright?"

Yuuta nodded as his mother took his hand. He headed towards the gate with his mother leading him and turned backwards, waving, "Chi-aossu!"

Tsuna waved back until Yuuta was out of sight. At that moment he looked up at the stars twinkling in the night they were woven into until his stargazing was cut off when he remembered a certain impatient Cloud Guardian was waiting for him.

He walked to the car and Hibari leisurely. As he arrived, Hibari opened the door for Tsuna and he gave a small bow as a gesture of thanks. Within a few more seconds, Hibari was behind the wheel and the engine was ignited.

An exhausting silence hung in the air like a ring of cigarette smoke until Hibari broke the through the smog. "While our boss is playing around with children, his subordinates are doing multiple complex errands."

"Did you get my message about the new location?" Tsuna asked, ignoring the comment.

"…Yes," he finally answered, deciding not to bring the topic up again.

* * *

_End Chapter Five_

_So here we have a lovely chapter with just a smidge of progression and symbolism. _

_Anyways, the choice of names for the three children were based off of my alias: Saku Yuuta, and Mitsu, which means honey (and is related to my real name)._

_Yuuta's "Tuna-bro" was intentional._

_Okay, so the next chapter will cover up some important points I believe should have happened before thirteen year-old Tsuna and Co. come to the world of ten years later._

_Alright, till next time! ^^_

_(This is redundant, but…REVIEWS PLEASE! ^^)_


	6. Chapter Six: Trouble and the Truth

_Disclaimer: Don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Akira Amano does, so please don't sue me._

_Please enjoy this chapter of Memories and Countdown._

* * *

_**Trouble and the Truth**_

Namimori was covered by a light haze and the city's middle school was no exception. As the stars and moon kept surveillance, a car that camouflaged with the dark asphalt stopped in front of the gates. A man with black hair stepped out first and then opened the door to the backseat, allowing the brown-haired man fresh air and a space to stretch his legs.

"Watch your step." A hand was extended to help the young man out of the Mercedes. But the pale calloused hand was pushed away lightly.

"Don't worry about it." A pair of black leather shoes took root onto grey cement. The doors of the car were closed with a light slam and the click of a button. Amber eyes directed their gaze at the metal gate that enclosed Namimori Middle School.

Light footsteps, almost silent, made their way to the gate and pale fingers slid a key through the opening on a lock. There was a small rattling noise of a chain hitting metal as it was pulled into a free hand. When the clattering came to an end, wheels squeaked and then there was space large enough to allow one man in.

After a quick nod barely seen through the dense fog, the brown-haired man walked through the thin region, slipping through with one shoulder going through then the other. Close behind him followed the black-haired man, who had slipped through the crack and fixed the chains once more. Each hand held steel.

Quietly, the pair walked into the dark school and filed up the stairs as if it were broad daylight and normal to do so.

"Wait." Dark eyes and a hand holding a tonfa stopped the person before them from advancing further. Long strides surpassed the still man and a door connecting a last flight of stairs to the rendezvous point was busted open by a knock of steel.

The area was covered with a lighter mist than that which covered the ground and a man with glasses leaned over a rail.

"It's nice to see you again," the man greeted, half-whispering, "Mr. Sawada and Mr. Hibari."

"Hn," the black-haired man grunted in response.

"It's good to see you, too, Irie, and Happy New Year."

A weak smile crossed Irie's face, "Happy New Year. Now then, onto business. As Mr. Hibari has told me prior, you've destroyed the rings, correct?"

Tsuna winced internally, a small pain pecked at his insides. "Yes, I have. So, what's the next phase of the plan?"

"At the Christmas party, Byakuran told me that he visited you 'off-record' to talk to you about joining with the Millefiore, and that you had destroyed the Vongola rings right in front of him—"

Hibari's eyes widened then he glared at Tsuna, "That's the first I've heard of this 'meeting'."

Tsuna didn't need to look back to know that Hibari was angry. "What else, Irie?"

Irie glanced down at the floor, up at Hibari, then at Tsuna. "Well, Byakuran told me that he planned to have an 'on record' meeting with you. Him as well as some subordinates mostly from the White Spell will be coming back to Japan to make negotiations. He said that he knows you'll agree, that even if you didn't agree on your own will, he'd force you to say yes."

"How?"

"Byakuran's power is one that performs miracles," Irie explained, "That's the best way I can put it right now. Anyways, the plan splits into two paths that we can take depending on the situation at the time of execution. One is—in the case that a battle doesn't break out—that we expose the truth about the Millefiore as the killers of the Arcobaleno and then wait out from there. The second route—if a battle commences between the Millefiore and the Vongola—is that you get shot and die, Mr. Sawada."

Hibari sprung from his position, fury and bloodlust in his eyes. However, before his spiked tonfa could tear at the meat in front of him, Tsuna flew between the two and grabbed onto the steel weapons, melding them together with the orange flames that surrounded his gloves.

"That's enough, Hibari," Tsuna's amber eyes were cold and commanding, leaving Hibari with no choice but to reluctantly submit. He lowered the worthless trash in his hands. Then Tsuna turned to Irie, orange flame still emitting from his forehead. "What do you mean by that, Irie?"

Irie gulped the fear into his stomach and after most of the emotion subsided, he answered Tsuna's question. "I've developed a special bullet similar to the Vongola's Dying Will bullet that invokes a state of death on the person that's hit by it in the heart. By feigning your death, it'll look like the Millefiore shot you and killed you. We will then utilize this time to get your self and your guardians of the past to come to the future with the Vongola rings. Presently, without the rings, the Vongola don't stand a chance against the threat of the Millefiore."

"Then why have Sawada destroy the rings in the first place?" Hibari growled.

"Because there had to be a reason for Byakuran to get mad enough to formally confront the Vongola," Irie answered.

Hibari stared at Tsuna, "Sawada, I don't like the way this sounds. You may have been a herbivore before, but I won't just allow you to get shot on the battlefield for the sake of such a ridiculous and irrational plan."

"I'll agree to your plans, Irie." Tsuna announced as he let go of his Dying Will flames. "After my 'death', I trust you to test my younger self of ten years ago and make sure he grows properly."

"U-Understood," Irie bowed, "Thank you, Mr. Sawada. I won't betray your trust."

Tsuna smiled weakly and placed a hand on Irie's shoulder. "Enough of that, I'm happy to be of help to you. If stopping Byakuran means ensuring the safety of my friends and the helping you save a close friend, then there's no problems."

Irie looked up at Tsuna admiringly, "Thank you so much again, Mr. Sawada. Thank you so much."

* * *

The Vongola's boss and the Cloud Guardian left the school and Irie behind them. Hibari was the first to the car and entered the driver's seat, slamming the door after him. Tsuna stopped a few feet away from the car, averting his gaze to the floor. At the sight of the brown-haired man standing outside of the car slightly covered in mist, Hibari rolled down the window.

"Don't just stand around there like a herbivore, get in." The Cloud Guardian tried to suppress the anger that he felt but there was just too much.

"Hibari, I'm sorry," Tsuna apologized. Hibari snapped and jumped out of the car, nearly swinging the door of the vehicle off its hinge. He stomped up to Tsuna and dragged him to the car, flinging the Mercedes' door open as he did so, and hurled the shorter man onto the leather upholstery of the backseat.

"Listen, you stupid little fuck." Hibari glared down at his boss from the outer frame of the door. Tsuna didn't cower at the sight of the mad Guardian, just glared back in a mixture of disbelief and what seemed like defiance to Hibari. "I don't care how much of a nice person you are or how much of a hero you want to be, but stop it. You're biting off more than you can chew and you're handing your life over to someone that you trust based off of some damn intuition. Do you think that there's _anyone_ that would let you do something so stupid as sell your life—even if only falsely—for the sake of some stranger?"

When he saw Tsuna look away, his anger broke out into a whole new level and made this rings glow violently with violet flames. He grabbed Tsuna by the collar of his shirt, bringing the man's face close to his so that it was impossible to look away. "Listen carefully to what I'm saying, Sawada, because I'm not repeating myself: Don't throw your life away from something like this with a high probability of your death and failure. Would you prefer to see everyone who cares about you in _pain_? Well?"

"I—"

Hibari shook him, "Answer me so I can hear you loud and clear, damn it!"

"I don't want to see anybody in pain," Tsuna roared. Hibari continued to glare at the shorter man with a cold expression that could be read as: "then why".

"But more than having you guys live in pain, I'd hate for any of you to lose your lives because of something as stupid as the mafia! Always…All the time…Ever since Reborn told me I was the heir to the Vongola…I never wanted it! I never wanted any of it!"

Tears streamed down Tsuna's cheek and warm droplets fell onto Hibari's sleeve. "After I made friends, I didn't ever want to lose them. And to lose you guys because of the mafia—something that I dragged you guys into—that…that would be…just too much for me. Guilt, pain, sorrow, suffering…it would all burden my back and shoulders to the point of soreness and exhaustion every day for the rest of my life if I allowed that to happen. You guys are too important for me to lose!"

Hibari released Tsuna's clothes letting his boss fall onto the seats. He closed the door gently and silently walked to the driver's chair. After he was seated, he buckled his belt, turned on the engine, and drove to where Gokudera and Yamamoto would be waiting for him.

"Hibari…" Tsuna mumbled from his position on the black leather. His arm covered his eyes and his voice trembled. "After you drop me off, you are to leave Japan and not come back until a week after the formal confrontation with the Millefiore is over. You may use whatever excuse you'd like to cover for your leave, but you may not tell Yamamoto or Gokudera the truth about my plans, understand?"

The Mercedes lurched as it stopped behind the crosswalk lines. Red light. The Cloud Guardian's grip around the steering wheel tightened. After a silence that had lasted until the light turned green, he quietly replied, "Understood, Boss."

* * *

"_H-Hey! Lambo, don't do that! You'll get us in trouble with Hibari!" Tsuna whispered as he grabbed Lambo and took the black marker from his hand. He glanced at the wall and dread caused him to pale to a ghostly white._

_Scribbled in the permanent black ink was a crudely drawn picture of a giant, buff, and spotted broccoli monster with a foot on top of what could be made out as Hibari with a French moustache and broken candy canes in his hands._

"_Wao." The all too familiar and intimidating voice caused Tsuna to freeze. Foot steps sounded in the enclosed walls of the disciplinary committee's room. "Now then, Herbivore," the voice echoed in Tsuna's ears, "if you wanted to fight me, you didn't need to make such a drawing or skip homeroom."_

_Tsuna gulped, "H-H-Hibari…I was just about to go to class, but then Reborn told me that Lambo ran in here, so I—"_

"_As head of the disciplinary committee, I will enforce punishment for vandalizing school property, bringing a child onto campus, and truancy. The punishment: I'll be biting you to death in detention…"_

_Tsuna held back his scream, which would only make his punishment worse, as a sheet of paper fell in front of him. On it, a red checkmark was penned into the box next to 'DETENTION'._

"_Now, get to class, Herbivore," Hibari growled._

"_Y-Yes, sir!" Tsuna saluted before dashing out in a power-walk. Running in the halls would only make the situation worse._

_On his way out, he could have sworn he heard a light chuckle come from the disciplinary committee's head._

* * *

"We're here," Hibari announced. The engine was off and there was a jacket draped over Tsuna as a blanket.

"When did we arrive?" Tsuna asked, sitting up. The jacket fell onto his lap.

"Two hours ago," he answered.

Tsuna glanced over at the digital clock, but it was off. He checked his wrists for a watch, but he didn't have one on. "What time—"

The Cloud Guardian interrupted, "It's four minutes until two."

"Then Gokudera and Yamamoto—"

"I told them you were with me and to expect you to be late."

There was an awkward silence between the two and Tsuna opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped once again. This time not by Hibari, but by Gokudera.

"Tenth!" the faint voice of his right hand man made him look out the window behind him and sure enough, there was a silver-haired Italian. The man pointed at the lock on the door and Tsuna lifted the switch. A millisecond later, the door flung open and Gokudera tackled him with questions, mostly pertaining to Tsuna's physical health.

"You didn't get injured while you were out, did you?" Gokudera asked, inspecting Tsuna's face for any scratches or scuff marks.

Tsuna held onto Gokudera's probing hands. "I'm fine, Gokudera, honestly."

The Storm Guardian's green eyes softened and he let out a breath of relief, "That's great, Tenth. That's great…After what I heard happened to Rokudou, I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you…"

Tsuna's eyebrows furrowed, "What about Mukuro? What happened to him?"

Gokudera's eyes widened in surprise, "You didn't hear?" Then he looked over at Hibari. "You didn't tell him yet? Why didn't you tell him?"

"There was no need to pile further stress and grief onto Boss's shoulders," Hibari answered. His voice was lifeless and clear of any emotion. He pulled the switch on the car door and stepped out. Then, he closed the door lightly so that the closing sound was soft. "I'm going inside," he muttered solemnly.

Gokudera and Tsuna watched the man leave.

"What's wrong with Hibari?" Gokudera mumbled. His eyes didn't leave the man's back until it couldn't been seen anymore.

"Gokudera, what happened to Mukuro?" Tsuna asked. Gokudera's head shifted in surprise then it turned, facing the back of the headrest. He slid down into the comfortable seat.

He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. "Tenth, please try to stay calm."

"What happened to Mukuro?" Tsuna repeated, slight annoyance hinting in his tone.

"Rokudou is…dead…"

Tsuna's whole body froze over, eyes widened unimaginably. "D-Dead?" his voice trembled. He swallowed, trying to keep calm as Gokudera had advised. "H-How? How did it happen?" he asked; it was no good, his voice was still unsteady.

"A man name Glo Xinia defeated him in combat," Gokudera answered. He opened his eyes to see his boss and childhood friend. He regretted it. Beside him, Tsuna sat shivering and pale, making him seem like a ghost. Gokudera turned his head away as his voice grew shaky as well, "We tried to get into contact with Chrome, but…she's still missing, like she has been since she tried to help him escape."

"Mukuro is…dead? N-No! It can't be!"

Gokudera looked back at Tsuna, eyebrows knitted in worry, "Tenth…"

"No! Mukuro isn't dead! We were talking back before Christmas…He said he was fine…he said—he said he was fine! And Chrome isn't missing! She was there, too! She talked to me! She told me she had errands!"

The silver-haired man took Tsuna's face between his hands. Warm water flooded from Tsuna's amber eyes. "Tenth! Stop it! If you stay in denial like this, how are you going to work? Te-Tsuna…please, stop…If you keep acting like this…Please, stop crying, Tsuna…"

At the sound of his name coming from Gokudera, Tsuna looked up; he wasn't the only one crying over their fallen comrade. The brown-haired man wrapped his arms around Gokudera's neck. "I'm sorry, Gokudera," he whispered, "You're right, I'm just in denial. Thank you."

Tsuna released his grip on his Storm Guardian. "Let's go inside, shall we?"

* * *

Behind the sushi bar, which was completely bare of fish stood the Rain Guardian. In front of him, the Cloud Guardian sat fiddling absent-mindedly with the box weapon that the Cavalonne Boss had given him.

Yamamoto took out a bottle of sake from the shelves and two cups. He set the bottle and cups between himself and Hibari. The Cloud Guardian's gaze, however, remained fixated on the purple box in his hand.

"Want some?" the swordsmen offered, "It's the best in all of Namimori."

"Just one then," Hibari agreed, showing less enthusiasm than normal.

Yamamoto poured out the alcoholic beverage in the two empty containers. "Hey, Hibari, why are you acting so strange?"

Hibari finally stopped playing with the box and looked up at Yamamoto as the swordsman drank his sake. "Are you trying to imply something?"

"Well, normally, you wouldn't even bother coming into here."

"It's normally crowded."

Yamamoto laughed, "I guess that's true. Same old Hibari, don't like crowds, do you?"

"And I still don't like annoying pests," he growled, drinking his share.

The Rain Guardian poured another serving for himself. "Then it's a good thing I'm not the same as I was in middle school. So, is there a reason for your little brooding episode earlier?"

Hibari paused for a second. "No reason," he answered, lifting his flask for more.

"I thought you said only one," Yamamoto smiled as he poured more of the liquid out of the bottle.

"I meant one bottle. It would be a waste to leave one half empty."

"It'd be troublesome for sure," Yamamoto looked down at his reflection in the translucent drink. "Hey, what happened to Hibird?"

"He's doing surveillance."

"Is that how you could track down our little tunafish?"

"It's not like I was stalking him; it just so happened that Hibird flew over where he was."

"Where was he?" Yamamoto reached for the bottle, but Hibari got to it first.

"At the park," the Cloud Guardian answered, "playing tag with children."

Yamamoto chuckled, "What a nice stress-reliever…"

"Playing with children is not relieving," Hibari muttered.

"Do you do baby-sitting outside of work? Or did you get secretly married and have kids?"

"The alcohol must already be getting to you. Why would I want to have kids? I already have six to watch during work."

* * *

_End Chapter Six_

_Wow, I can't believe it, I completed two chapters in three days! I'm so proud of myself! Well, enough of my airheadedness. This chapter was kind of hard to do and kind of confused me, so if you have questions, ask me and I'll try to make it more clear! ^^_

_Reviews please! ^^_


	7. Chapter Seven: Last Shot

_Disclaimer: Akira Amano owns Katekyou Hitman Reborn, not me!_

_This is probably going to be the finally chapter, I may add something Kyoko related though…Maybe…_

* * *

_**Last Shot**_

The sky above Namimori's forest was clear of clouds and the fog of yesterday was nonexistent. The sky—even with the light from the sun—did not give off the fresh, clean, and inspiring feeling it normally did.

The small villa the Vongola had in Japan was no different from that sky. The interior was almost devoid of life with the exception of one particular area in the east wing of the villa. On one side of the door, a silver-haired man pounded on the door with a taller black-haired man behind him; the two men were surrounded by a multitude of subordinates in uniform suits. "Tenth! Please open the door! If you don't, then we'll bust it down ourselves!"

There was no reply and the silver-haired man turned backwards to his taller companion, giving a quick nod. The man understood, readying a sword in hand, and forced the door open with a tackle of his shoulder. Inside, the Vongola X was in the corner of the room that the light from the balcony couldn't reach. His head and back rested against the wall and his amber eyes stared up at the ceiling as if in a trance. Beside him were several empty bottles of wine.

Through dry lips, a tiny voice whispered, "Close the door."

The silver-haired man, who was now behind the swordsman, did so then walked up to the wrecked man, kneeling beside him. "Tsuna, how much did you drink?" he asked quietly.

There was a light laugh, "You can count, right?"

"Tsuna, what are you doing?" the black-haired swordsman asked, stopping at the feet of his broken friend.

"What does it look like?"

The two exchanged worried expressions and the silver-haired Italian spoke first, "Tenth…We know that Rokudou's death must have been hard on you, but that's no reason to be like this right now. You've got to pay attention to the present."

Tsuna closed his eyes, dark bags rested under each. "I'm sorry, Gokudera. It's just not time for me to cheer up yet."

Yamamoto pounded a fist into the wall; Gokudera looked up at the man, whose unblemished tan face was twisted into anger, sympathy, and sorrow. Tsuna only revealed his amber eyes, listless. "Don't act like one death is the end of the world. Rather than worry about what's missing, why don't you concentrate on what you still have?"

The brown-haired man stirred slightly as his friend yelled at him but remained silent, staring up at Yamamoto with sorrow-heavy eyes.

Yamamoto averted his gaze from the amber and stomped to the door, kicking it open. Several unsuspecting subordinates were swung onto the floor by the force. "Look! These are our friends, our comrades! They've all come here worried about you!"

"Takeshi…" Gokudera mumbled in awe. Tsuna felt a wave of guilt run through him.

He looked at his subordinates, their sadness, their worry. Then the empty bottles around him entered his vision. Realization flooded over him. His head bent over. "I-I'm—what am I doing? Sitting here and moping like 'Dame Tsuna'…Reborn would have my head for it."

Gokudera placed a warm hand on his shoulder, a soft and comforting smile spread from end to end. Tsuna's head lifted up enough so he could see Gokudera's sincere, enchanted smile. "Even if you mope, you're not 'Dame Tsuna'. For all of us, you are our very precious person, our beautiful sky that unites us all."

Yamamoto knelt down in front of Tsuna's legs and took pale bandaged hands in his tanned ones. Tsuna watched as Yamamoto carefully unbound the white strips, revealing scarred tissue on the palms. The swordsman slid his thumbs over the wounds on each respective hand, eyes captivated by the wounds.

"After my father's death, I felt like killing myself," he announced to the quiet, the spectators, and his close friends. "For me, my life was too tragic to bear any longer. And as I threatened my friend that I'd kill myself, he interfered. As a result, he stopped me from making a wrong and irreversible choice." Yamamoto's toffee eyes looked into Tsuna's amber eyes, which were slowly regaining their former light. "The scars that he now has, serve as a reminder to me that I never want him to be hurt."

The swordsman pressed his lips against the scars on the right hand. "Tsuna, you told me at that time before Christmas—not even more than two months ago that I should face adversity head-on, that if life threw me something I didn't like, I should hold my head up high and persevere."

Admiration and gratitude shown in Tsuna's eyes and his vision began to blur with a thin film of water. "Yamamoto…"

"We're all here for you to share your pains—Yamamoto, me, all of our friends and comrades," Gokudera smiled. Yamamoto grabbed Tsuna and Gokudera in the crooks of his elbow; his goofy smile had finally made its revival.

"That's right, Tsuna!" Yamamoto's smile nearly blinded Gokudera and Tsuna. But Gokudera couldn't help but feel thankful—for the first time—that Yamamoto's arms were wrapped around both of them. The strength of the half-covered tan arms warmed all three of them.

"We'll be here and there and everywhere with you! Through thick and thin! That's what friends are for, right?"

The smile's rays reached Tsuna and his persuaded him to smile. Tears of gratitude fell down his cheeks. "Thanks, Yamamoto, Gokudera, everyone."

While happiness is what surfaced, it was only half of what Tsuna was feeling in his heart. Hearing Yamamoto and Gokudera's concerned words boiled guilt.

'_Don't throw your life away from something like this with a high probability of your death and failure. Would you prefer to see everyone who cares about you in pain?'_

Tsuna finally realized what Hibari was trying to tell him, what he didn't want to accept. While his death could save the world, it would harm the very friends he didn't want to see dead, didn't want to see hurt, didn't want to see in tears. They were the very people that he wanted to protect and share laughs with.

The tears of happiness soured, but Tsuna's mask remained fixed as a smile—the only joyful part of what he felt internally that was allowed to overflow and stay.

* * *

Miles away, a Cloud Guardian was sitting in a silent room, sipping tea, his personal farewell party before he left Japan in search of rare box weapons and Cloud Attribute rings. It wasn't much of a party. There was no noise and there were no crowds, just as he preferred it to be.

As he drank his tea, flashes of a broken boss and memories of hearing of the Mist Guardian's passing played in his mind like a haunted broken record-player. The room darkened slightly and he looked towards the window. Sitting at the sill was a yellow bird that began singing.

The man set his tea cup down on the table and walked over to the small bird. As he approached the yellow fluff, he extended a finger as a perch, which the bird then jumped onto. The Cloud Guardian sat at the sill, leaning against the pane with one shoulder. "'Sakura Addiction'," he whispered, looking at the bird's beady eyes at the same level.

The small squeaky voice of the creature recited the lyrics of the song he had stated. "Sakura saku mai ochiru…"

At the sound of the singing, the Cloud Guardian let out a sigh and closed his eyes momentarily. His stress dissipated.

He opened his eyes again at the feel of something watching him. His bird companion kept singing as if nothing was wrong. "Hakanakute yasashikute…" The Japanese man, dressed in traditional clothing, turned and looked out the window, searching for what was trying to make him, the predator, into prey. In the shade of the tree, he spotted white. Upon closer inspection, he made out the stalker to be a snowy white owl emitting a very low amount of indigo flames.

A smirk crossed the Cloud Guardian's face and he couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the blue-eyed predatory bird. Then he leaned his head against the frame of the window, face upwards and eyes closed, but the half-smile never left his lips. "If this is some idea of a joke, it's not funny…"

_Knock. Swoosh._

The paper door separating the room with the front of the shrine slid open. A man in a suit with a black pompadour had his head lowered in a bow while seated in _seiza_ position. "Kyou, your bags have been packed and your plane tickets have been bought. Preparations for your trip have been finished."

The Cloud Guardian shifted slightly and the small bird took off, flying out the way it had come in. "Thank you, Kusakabe." He walked over to the suit that was folded in the basket and began changing. "I'll be out soon."

"Yes, Kyou," the man deepened the bow and was about to close the sliding door, but his employer stopped him.

"I have a favor to ask of you: take care of Hibird while I'm away."

He bowed again, "Yes, Kyou." Kusakabe was about to shut the paper door closed again, but again he was stopped.

"And remember," the Cloud Guardian reminded, "if you see any signs of Mukuro still alive, be sure to take a picture and ease the Sawada's grief."

"Understood. Is that all, Kyou?"

"That is all," he answered as he made his way to the paper door, fully dressed in his suit.

* * *

The clock hanging in the office at the Vongola's villa read ten minutes before noon. At that moment, Gokudera came into the room with folders and papers in hand.

"Giannini has informed me that our new hideout has now been set up with state-of-the-art equipment in medicines. He's also requested that I find out when you want to move the Family underground."

Tsuna smiled, "That's good news. Just have him set up furnishings and appliances put up in case of an emergency. We can't be too careful, right?"

"Understood," Gokudera bowed, "I'll tell him that immediately. Excuse me." Then the Storm Guardian left, glad that Tsuna was able to smile properly again.

The phone on Tsuna's desk started to ring and he put it onto speaker. "Yes?"

"There are some people from the Millefiore Family requesting entrance to the villa, should we let them in, Boss?" a voice asked through the intercom.

The brown-haired boss froze.

"Boss?"

Reality settled in and Tsuna could feel his blood rush and pain clench at his heart and stomach. "Yes, send them in. Oh, and when they enter, please have someone take them to the garden for our conversation."

"Yes, Boss."

Tsuna felt shivers run through his whole body; his intuition told him to call off all orders and evacuate his family. But he went against what his mind ordered and slipped on a pair of white mittens.

* * *

A white-haired man stepped out of the eighth of nine vehicles, followed by a man with red hair and glasses. "So, Shou-chan, are you ready?" the white-haired man asked his companion with his fox smile.

"Yes," he answered.

"That's good." The man and the mix of white and black that followed him stopped after he did. A man dressed in a suit of black and a white collared shirt stood in front of the door leading to the villa's interior.

"I've been told by my boss to bring you to the rose garden. Please follow me."

One of the subordinates behind the white-haired man snapped his fingers. Instantaneously, a wave of gold scratched the man and he was covered in yellow spiders. The man fell to the floor, motionless in seconds. "Naïve, how naïve…what makes you think that we came here to just listen to you Vongola?" the subordinate that had snapped his fingers scoffed.

"Now, now, Gingerbread, that wasn't a nice thing to do. Mr. Sawada's not going to be a happy man. What do you plan on doing if he attacks us?" The smile on the white-haired man's face didn't fade even as he spoke to his subordinate.

"Why, I would use self-defense by all means," Gingerbread answered, tipping his hat over his eyes in a fashion similar to a certain hitman.

"I guess that's the route we'd have to take now, isn't it?" The sinister aura from the fox smile grew. "Oh, well. Then let's just annihilate the rest of this weak family. Then that poor underling won't be lonely, right?"

"Of course, Byakuran-sama," Gingerbread replied.

* * *

"Boss! They killed Giovanni!" a man came rushing into Vongola's office, which held a paling Tsuna.

"They _killed_ Giovanni?"

He nodded, "Yes, and they've—" The man stopped, red spread like a blooming flower from his chest and only stopped spreading when the man fell to the floor, eyes wide-open.

"Nicolas!"

"It's too bad that he couldn't survive such a weak attack," Byakuran smiled as he entered the office.

Tsuna glared at the man from his seat. "Byakuran," he greeted, biting back his anger and anguish. He couldn't afford letting his guard down this dangerous man.

"Hello, Mr. Sawada. I'm sorry about what happened to your subordinates." His smile was reconstructed to perfection.

_Boom!_

Byakuran turned backwards for a second then back at Tsuna, "You should really teach your subordinates some manners. They're just thoughtlessly destroying your villa."

"I take it this is your 'formal' meeting," Tsuna kept back most of his growl.

"'Formal'…" Byakuran walked up to the desk and took a seat on the wood, looking down at Tsuna on the other side with purple irises revealed through a slit between eyelids and cheek. "I guess you could call it that," he whispered. He took a gun from the holster that hung from his waist and prodded the open-ended part under Tsuna's chin, lifting the Vongola bosses head with the tip. "Now, how about we have a 'formal' and 'peaceful' negotiation over the conjoining of the Millefiore and the Vongola?"

An orange flame sprouted from Tsuna's foreheads and lighted the brown-haired boss's gloves. As he spoke smoothly, he grabbed onto the gun, deforming the weapon to a useless shape. "I'm sorry that you had to come all the way down here, but I don't like conducting business with the killers of my Family."

The eerie calmness in Tsuna's voice made the temperature drop another few degrees in addition to Byakuran's menacing air.

Byakuran's eyes closed again and his smile grew darker, "I see. Well that's unfortunately to hear." Behind him, his subordinates filed in holding three unconscious Guardians: Rain, Storm, and Cloud. "Are you sure about that?"

Tsuna averted his gaze from the captive subordinates and looked out through the window behind him. The garden below him was structured like that of the one back in Italy. Roses of all colors of the rainbow decorated the well-kept bushes.

"Well, Mr. Sawada? If you don't say anything, I'll take your silence as your certainty with your answer."

The Vongola boss glared at the Millefiore boss from the corner of his eyes. "By all means…" He grabbed the white-haired man by the stiff collar of the uniform and dragged him to the window, forcing the man through the glass and into the center of the flowery courtyard with force added from his X-Gloves.

Petals, dust, and leaves rose into the air, floating in the space surrounding the two bosses.

Byakuran laughed, "Then you've ordered the death of your Guardians as well?"

"Did you think I would fall for a stupid illusion like that?" Tsuna asked, his countenance remained unchanged and impassive. The X's on his gloves morphed into I's and the flame on Tsuna's forehead flickered out. Ice slowly crept over Byakuran's pinned shoulders.

Then, there was a click and a bang.

* * *

"Get Alfred somewhere safe!" Gokudera ordered from behind a support pillar. Blood, ash, and debris littered Gokudera's clothes and stuck his hair together in clumps. In his hands, he held several bombs, which he skillfully flung at a group of Millefiore subordinates shooting from the opposite side.

A blond man, bleeding from a cut on his forehead, looped a comrade's arm around his neck and shoulders. "But what about you, Mr. Gokudera?"

The explosives set off and dust rose into the air. Stones and shards zipped through the air and cut at Gokudera's suit. "I'll be fine. Just take Alfred somewhere safe; I'm going to make sure Tenth is safe."

"A-Alright," the blond man nodded and limped away with his friend.

Gokudera ran from his pillar up the staircase, throwing several more dynamite at the enemy. "Damn it…why now? Why today?" he growled as he rushed to the large double doors of Tsuna's office. As he approached the vicinity, the number of the fallen rose and he spotted several Mosca guarding the entrance to Tsuna's office. Without revealing himself to the humanoids, Gokudera threw seven rocket bombs, one for each target.

The smoke cleared and revealed each Mosca in pieces.

_Slink._

A metal bullet fell to the velvety red carpet of the staircase in six pieces in front of the crouching Storm Guardian. On the staircase, Yamamoto stood with Shigure Kintoki unsheathed. "Shibuki Ame."

The Japanese swordsman's toffee eyes glared at the enemy that had attempted shooting at Gokudera. The shirt of his suit was in tatters and blood seeped from the small lines that decorated the revealed tan skin. The red flesh on his chin was cut, the result of barely evading a bullet minutes ago.

"Show-off," Gokudera grumbled, pushing himself off the staircase. He barged into the office just in time to see Tsuna push Byakuran through the window. His green eyes widened and he ran to the edge of the broken window, smashing shard of glass into even smaller pieces.

_Swoosh._

Yamamoto sliced at the Millefiore's invisible illusionist using Shinotsuku Ame. "Sheesh, be more careful, Hayato," the swordsman sighed. "If you act _that_ reckless, you'll get hurt."

The silver-haired Italian completely ignored Yamamoto and ran past him, yelling out the name of his beloved friend and boss, "Tsuna!"

The swordsman wandered to the window sill calmly. What he saw in the rose palace broke that calmness and he ran after Gokudera.

* * *

Byakuran smirked from beneath the wide-eyed Vongola boss. Crimson splattered onto the Millefiore's dusty white uniform and Byakuran's pale face. The I's reverted back to X's on Tsuna's gloves and the orange flame returned to his forehead, but in a smaller flame than had originally been there.

Sticky red dripped from the wound in Tsuna's chest onto the dirt and Byakuran's cheek, making it seem as if the masked man was crying tears of blood. The smirk on Byakuran's face widened until it was insanely large.

"I always get what I want in the end, Vongola Decimo," Byakuran whispered as the man collapsed onto the dirt. The Millefiore's leader that Tsuna believed to be underneath himself faded. The last words that came out of this fake Byakuran were towards the man that shot the Vongola boss. "Thank you so much for that excellent display of self defense, Shou-chan,"

Irie stored the gun into his waist holster with a hard sadness in his eyes. "_Grazie mio amico_," the man bowed. "_Sayonara_." Then the red-haired man bolted for the exit, passing by Gokudera, who was more concerned about Tsuna's current state than revenge. Without any problems, Irie made it to the cars, calling a retreat to the remaining Millefiore.

Gokudera crashed down at his knees beside his boss. "Tsuna…no…" he mumbled. He wanted so much to touch his boss, but without proper paramedic actions, it could only worsen Tsuna's condition.

"H-Hayato…" Tsuna stuttered. The piercing pain in his chest added to the ache caused by worrying his childhood friend. It was getting harder to breathe. He probably only had five minutes before his world would go black. "I'm…leaving you in…charge—" he coughed, blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. "I wanted…to avoid…it, but…Lambo, I-pin…have to…fight."

"Tsuna, please don't speak," Gokudera begged. Small droplets fell onto Tsuna's cheek, sliding off just as fast as his own would have. "It'll only make it worse. Please, just hold on until we get the paramedics."

Tsuna smiled weakly at Gokudera and extended a feeble, frail arm with a gloved hand at the end. He swiped away a tear with his thumb at the source. "N-No tears…And… please…don't let Kyoko…or…Haru know…what…happened…not yet…"

He closed his amber eyes; only a sliver of the Dying Will flame remained, but it gradually grew smaller and thinner until its heat and light died out.

Gokudera screamed. It wasn't "no", it wasn't "Tenth", it was only a scream. A scream that released his anger and pain all at once. His boss—his closest and best friend—had lost his light.

A late swordsman stopped in his tracks. His legs refused to move towards where his savior and friend lay. His rain built up and broke through the gates of the ducts. He bit back lip lower lip, holding back the urge to yell. Perseverance. That's what he needed right now: to persevere.

* * *

In the center of the forest, far from the public and a ways off from the Vongola's new living accommodations since the Millefiore's attack sat a jet black coffin. Inside this eternal bed of slumber was the Vongola's Tenth Boss, surrounded by hundreds of white roses.

Gokudera stared blankly as the case was lidded, enclosing Tsuna in his final resting place. Beside him was Yamamoto. They were the only two that attended this makeshift service.

"Takeshi…" Gokudera mumbled. The toffee-eyed swordsman didn't look up but responded with a small grunt so that the right hand man knew that he was listening. His voice was dry, "I found out from some notes that Tsuna made that the recent disappearances and deaths were people all related to the Vongola or Arcobaleno. Because of this, I will be sending Ryohei to look for Tsuna's parents and check on the Varia. You, however, are to resume your missions until further notice."

"Okay," Yamamoto agreed; his eyes were red and swollen and his voice croaked, "And Hibari?"

The Storm Guardian scoffed, "That guy doesn't care; he cut off all ways of communication with us after he left on his 'treasure hunt'."

"The last wish Tsuna told me was to make sure we don't tell Kyoko and Haru what happened, so don't, alright?"

"Understood…then…I'll head back first," Yamamoto announced. "I'll be busy for the next few days; I'll call in when I have time."

"Yeah…" Gokudera responded. He knelt next to the coffin and put a stick of dynamite on the cover. "I'm sorry I don't have flowers, Tsuna, so please take this as substitute for now, _mio amico_."

* * *

_End Chapter Seven_

_Well, that's it because you guys should all know what happens next, right? Well, if you don't, here's a mini summary:_

_Thirteen year-old Tsuna comes to TYL time, freaking out because he wakes up in a coffin. When he meets TYL!Gokudera, he finds out that he needs to kill Shoichi when he gets back to his own time, but he never goes back to his own time. Then, Gokudera comes and they meet Lal Mirch and then TYL!Yamamoto. From there on, they begin the adventure in Byakuran's almost realized perfect world._

_Reviews please! Especially for this last chapter! =~=_


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